Game Over
by RDFAN7669
Summary: During a fight with Eggman, things quickly escalated beyond Sonic's control. Nobody could have expected the mad scientist to go that far. Nobody could have expected a newer form of Dark Sonic to emerge. Nobody could have anticipated any of this. Why did this have to happen now? Why did Mobius have to lose such a great ally? What happened to Sonic the Hedgehog?
1. Prologue

Mystic Ruins stood in flames as Sonic looked on in horror at the scene before him. The Master Emerald was shattered, the Chaos Emeralds had been completely drained of their power, and Tails was… no more. When the Master Emerald broke apart, it released a massive amount of pure chaos energy. Knuckles, who was standing beside the Emerald at the time was unprepared for such a blast, and he ended up being catapulted off the edge of Angel Island. Tails managed to catch the unconscious echidna in his plane as he flew by. Sonic watched this with baited breath, before turning back to face the mad scientist. He thought that this would just be another battle with Eggman. He'd done so many of these before that he became almost certain that they would always end the same way. Not today. Sonic turned to face the madman just in time to see him launch the homing missiles at Tails' plane. Sonic prepared to jump on to each missile to knock them off course, as usual, but Eggman blocked him. There was nothing Sonic could do as he watched the missiles creep up behind The Tornado. He saw Tails try to evade. He saw one of the missiles clip one of the wings. He saw The Tornado lose control and start flipping through the air towards Mobius.

He saw Tails fumble with his seatbelt. He saw Knuckles, who had woken up, do the same. He saw Knuckles' belt successfully unclasp, allowing the echidna to glide safely to the ground. However, the same couldn't be said about the belt holding Tails. It had become stuck. The ground was coming up fast. Tails didn't have time to do anything before impact. The only thing that could have saved him would have been Chaos Control, but Shadow wasn't there to help and the Chaos Emeralds were useless. So, Tails did the one thing he could. He stopped trying to escape and activated the communicator on his wrist. Sonic heard the beep from his own communicator, as did all of their friends, including Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Shadow and Cream. Tails' face appeared on each of the screens. Even though every alarm on the plane was going off, his voice could be heard clear as day. "Friends, it seems I have reached the end. My plane is about to crash into Mobius and my seatbelt is jammed. There isn't enough time for me to escape anymore, so I guess this is goodbye." The tears were visible now. "Sonic. You were always like a big brother to me. I always felt safe when I was with you. I felt like I could do anything if I put my mind to it. You were my good luck charm." Nobody else had the strength to say a word. "Everyone, thank you all for always being there for me. I want you all to keep up the fight. Don't let Eggman win, even when victory seems impossible." Tails finally heard the faint sobs from Amy and Cream. "Don't be sad, you guys. I'll finally get to see Cosmo again. I love you a—"

Static. Followed by a loud explosion that shook the ground all around Mobius. Then silence. Even Eggman was too shocked for words. At least for a moment.

Eggman cackled maniacally as Sonic fell to his knees, screaming. His laughter stopped abruptly whenever he looked back at Sonic. His hands were curled up into fists, and a dark energy was engulfing his entire body, like a black fire. His fur changed from a cobalt blue to black in seconds, his eyes lost their irises and pupils, and his quills became spiked in a similar style to his Super form. Eggman had only seen this form of Sonic once before: when the evil Metarex race kidnapped Sonic's friends, Chris and Cosmo. He knew that once this version of Sonic was unleashed, it wouldn't end well for the being who caused his anger. It was at this moment that Eggman knew that he was in trouble. He attempted to escape, but his small craft wasn't quick enough to evade Dark Sonic's chaos attacks. Unlike Tails, Eggman's aircraft wasn't very far off the ground when it began its uncontrollable descent, resulting in Eggman falling in a crumpled heap to the ground. His legs had become trapped in the wreckage of his pod, so there was nowhere far him to go as the angered hedgehog slowly approached him. This was when he saw something that scared him even more. This version of Dark Sonic was far more advanced than the one he had seen at the Metarex ship. Sonic was surrounded by black fire, his quills had somehow multiplied and his fangs had sharpened dramatically. His voice was deeper too. "So, Eggman, what exactly were you trying to accomplish by killing Tails? What good was that ever going to do?! I knew you were evil, but I never thought that you would go as far as to kill someone, let alone someone who has been like a little brother to me for YEARS!" Eggman was trying frantically to escape. "Don't even bother. You're dead! I could crush you in an instant." To demonstrate, Sonic pointed his arm towards the ruined Shrine and levitated a boulder, before closing his fist again, causing the boulder to disintegrate. "Tails didn't deserve to die! HE WAS ONLY 8 YEARS OLD! IS THAT AN ACCEPTABLE AGE TO DIE?!" Sonic continued to pace slowly towards the doctor. "His last wish was not to let you win. I intend to make sure of that now." Sonic was now almost upon Eggman, who, in a last ditch effort to survive, tried to immobilise Sonic in a laser cage. Sonic simply walked through the lasers. "Seriously, Eggman? Haven't you learned by now that there's nothing you can do to stop me from killing you?! You killed Tails, now I am RETURNING THE FAVOUR!" Sonic lifted Eggman up using the power of telekinesis and began to close his fist. Eggman could feel his bones snapping, and he could feel his skull closing in on his brain. "Sonic, stop!" Sonic turned around to face the newcomer, still maintaining his grip on Eggman. "Stay out of this, Shadow. He killed Tails. How am I supposed to let this psycho live after that?!" Shadow teleported himself in front of Sonic. "You aren't a killer, Sonic! If you kill Eggman, you'll have to live with that guilt for the rest of your life! I remember how much I wanted to kill the soldiers who took Maria from me. She was so young, so innocent. In the end, I realised that killing them wouldn't bring her back to me, in the same way that killing Eggman won't bring back Tails!" Sonic used his powers to throw Shadow out of the way. His voice shifted again, becoming almost demonic. "I SAID STAY OUT OF IT, SHADOW!" He continued to tighten his grip on the doctor. Eggman's robotic arm was the first to go, disconnecting from his shoulder. Followed by the rest of his limbs.

Then his head.

Eggman was finally dead, and the Robotnik dynasty had finally been eradicated. But, Sonic didn't feel good. War has fatalities, but he never expected his friend to among them. Now that the man was gone for good, Sonic decided to teleport himself to Eggman's base to destroy that as well. It was rubble within a matter of seconds. And then he teleported to the one place he had been avoiding: the crash site. Amy, Cream, Knuckles and Rouge were already there. Amy and Cream were holding each other, trying and failing to stop themselves from crying. Tears were even leaking through Knuckles' tough guy exterior. Rouge just stood there, hands over her mouth, tearful eyes wide with shock. Sonic, still in his dark form, walked past them all as they all looked at him curiously. Shadow teleported back from Angel Island and walked to stand beside Rouge. Sonic approached the still burning wreckage and knelt down beside it. He transformed back to his true form before, finally, letting out all of the tears he had been holding in all this time. He punched the ground repeatedly, shouting "NO!" over and over again. Amy started walking over to him to comfort him, but Shadow just grabbed her arm and shook his head. Sonic stood up slowly and began moving parts of the wreckage, desperately hoping to find Tails. He turned to the rest of his friends. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Help me!" The rest of the group ran over and started lifting pieces of the plane with Sonic. The wreckage gradually became less piled up until, finally, one solitary tail could be seen sticking out from what used to be the cockpit. "Tails!" When the rest of the group heard Sonic shout they all ran over to him to help him lift the last piece of the plane off their fallen friend. They weren't prepared for the sight that awaited them under that final piece of wreckage.

Tails was almost unrecognisable. His face was charred and burned. His left arm was bending in a direction no arm should ever bend. A few ribs had pierced through his chest. But the one injury that scarred the group of friends the most, and would continue to scar them until they eventually passed, was the fact that one of his iconic twin-tails had become separated from his body. The thought of how much pain Tails would have been in depressed his friends even further. Sonic fell to his knees again. He should have been there for his little brother. Sonic snapped. Whatever sanity he had left dissipated into nothingness. His fur became black again and the black aura flared up once again. His friends all backed away from the angered hedgehog. Sonic stood up again and without turning around, he reached out his hand and telekinetically grabbed Knuckles, bringing the echidna to his knees. "So, Tails saves you from falling to your death by catching you in his plane." Sonic's voice was low and oddly calm. That didn't change the fact that everyone felt a shiver go up their spines at the sound of it. "Then Eggman shoots the plane down, and as it's crashing, you decide to save your own skin and leave Tails to die, when you could have saved him as well. Then you had the nerve to show up here, standing here pretending that there was nothing you could have done. Am I missing anything?" Everyone was speechless after Sonic finished. None of the others dared to say a word. Shadow broke the silence. "Sonic, you need to calm dow-"

"Shut it, Shadow! He's not the only one who could have saved Tails. Or have you forgotten that you have the ability to stop time and teleport. You could have done just that as soon as Tails started broadcasting his final message!" Shadow, the ultimate lifeform, was stunned into silence.

Amy was next. "Sonic, is this how Tails would want you to react?! Didn't he say in the message that he didn't want us to be sad? We all want him to be alive, just as much as you do, but nothing you do is going to bring him back. He's gone."

"Amy's right, Sonic." This was Rouge. "Tails said he didn't want us to fall apart. So maybe you should stop focusing on deciding who to blame for his death and start focusing on fulfilling his last wish of stopping Eggman." None of the friends, except for Shadow, were prepared for what Sonic said next. "Eggman's already dead. I killed him after the crash. Why else do you think it took me so long to get here?" The silence which followed was deafening.

Amy was the first to start backing away from the crazed hedgehog, closely followed by all the others. He wasn't dead, but everyone knew that they had lost Sonic. He was no longer the friendly character that everyone had grown to love over the years. Now, he was just an empty shell of his former self, void of all sanity and compassion. Over the years that followed, Sonic's former friends would see many more changes in the hedgehog that Mobius called its hero. However, none of them were expecting the day when Sonic became their enemy.

* * *

 **Hi. This is RDFAN7669, formerly known as SpectrumDash. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction called Game Over. I do hope to update this every so often, though I will be starting university in a month so updates may not be very frequent. Leave a review of this first chapter and let me know what you think. Also, just so you know, I will not be adding any OCs to any of my stories unless I invent them myself, so don't leave any requests to add yours. In other news, the story I wrote 3 years ago as SpectrumDash, Decisions, will be updated soon as well. I will be uploading it on this account once I have written a little bit more.**

 **Also, I will happily accept any story requests that anybody wants to see. I would like to keep these stories within the Sonic or MLP universes or both, with a few possible exceptions. And I do mean _any_ story requests, including fics with an M rating if you so desire. I've never written a story like that before, so if that request does ever come up, don't expect it to be any good! That's all I had to say, so I will see you again for the next update.**


	2. A Hedgehog Gone Mad

Amy's POV

Ten years have passed since Tails died. His death took a toll on all of us, affecting us each in different ways. Cream was the worst affected out of all of my friends; she was only six when he died. I haven't seen her smile sincerely in years. Of course, we all miss him. He was like a little brother to all of us. Today marks the tenth anniversary of that fateful day. That is why I am standing here, in a black dress, in front of the wreckage of The Tornado. We decided to leave the crash site as it was, as a tribute to Miles. Every year, one of us would revisit the plane to leave a flower. This year it was my turn, and I brought with me a white rose, the same as I did five years ago the last time it was my turn. Over the last decade, the crash site had become quite infamous. As did the day itself. The day, dubbed "The Day of Heroes' End", was a very important day in the history of Mobius, because three major events happened on that day: Tails' death, Eggman's death and the start of Sonic's descent into madness.

Sonic… how far he fell from grace. The name I used to say with a boundless admiration, I now say in disgust. While Cream was the friend of mine who was the worst affected by Tails' untimely passing, Sonic was even worse, but I would no longer call him my friend. Tails' death drove Sonic to madness. He cracked on that day, but has time rolled on, the cracks in his sanity became deeper and deeper, until eventually there was nothing but an empty husk of the former hero, with all his sanity drained. Eventually, that insanity turned to violence, lashing out against myself and the others, and that violence eventually evolved to tyranny. So, even though we were free of Dr Eggman, we now had to face a new, more dangerous enemy, one who knew all of our secrets, our tactics, everything about us. Of course, this also gives us an advantage over him as well. We know his tactics, his secrets and his personality traits. The bad news is that that knowledge gives us even more reason to fear him.

Eggman was used to defeat, so usually after every battle he would crawl back to his lair to concoct an even more outlandish scheme to defeat us. Sonic, on the other hand, was used to victory, and was extremely competitive, never taking second place as an option. He would be relentless in his fighting, and he would be much stronger and faster than Eggman ever was, especially in his dark form, which was the only super form he used nowadays.

The morbid truth was that, if you got into a fight with Sonic, you died. A lesson which the Chaotix Detective Agency learned the hard way a few months back. They had had enough with Sonic's "totally uncool behaviour" (as Charmy put it), so they challenged him and faced him off on Angel Island.

They never left.

So far, Sonic has steered clear of the majority of the freedom fighters' hubs, like Knothole and the newly rebuilt Mobotropolis, and has therefore managed to stay away from most freedom fighters. Certainly, we see him frequently, and we know he sees us, but he never sticks around for long. From these brief glimpses, we see that his fur is darker than it was before, no longer the vibrant cobalt we used to love. Now it was more of a mixture of royal and navy blue…and black. When we see him, he is always on the move. We don't even know where his base of operations is located, or if he even has one at all. Sonic is very good at covering his tracks. We never know where or when he's going to show up again next. For all I know, he could be standing right behind me right now.

Oh God, I wish I was wrong.

"Hello, Amy. Long time no see." I turn myself almost instantly. That phrase. Sonic said that a lot when he returned from long adventures in the past, but now he's somehow managed to turn that once cheerful line into something much more sinister. I felt obligated to reply.

"Hello, Sonic."

"How's everyone doing?" Even that innocent question was tainted by Sonic's insanity.

"They're doing just fine. What about you?" I tried, and failed, to keep the hatred out of my voice.

"Oh, same old, same old. Life's pretty good for me. Nobody bothers me, and anybody who does doesn't stay living for long." He laughed as he briefly transformed into his Dark form and back again. "You have no idea how lucky you are, Amy. I remember all those times when Tails was still around when you insisted you were my girlfriend, that we were destined to be together. It kinda bothered me. That's why you're lucky. You bothered me when I was "the good guy". If you tried to pull those stunts on the new and improved me, why, you'd be dead where you stand!" I don't doubt it. Sonic may be insane, but even now he isn't a liar. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to pay my respects to an old friend in solitude, so leave unless you want me to kill you right now." Thankfully, it didn't seem like Sonic noticed me turn on the communicator on my wrist when he arrived, silently broadcasting the entire encounter to the entire freedom fighter network.

As I turned to walk away, I let my gaze fall upon Sonic, who was kneeling down beside the wreckage. In that moment, I saw the old Sonic again, briefly, before being brought back to reality by Sonic's voice again. "By the way, Ames, did you really think I was born yesterday? Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice you activating your communicator?" I was scared now, so I started backing away slowly. I know that I can't even dream to outrun Sonic. He continued to speak. "That was a big mistake. Take it off, but leave it broadcasting." I kept backing up.

He transformed. "I said, TAKE IT OFF!" He used his powers to telekinetically grab my wrist, preventing me from moving any further. He used his abilities to remove my communicator and levitated it up to his level. "This is a message to the freedom fighters. Do not cross me. Do not anger me. And DO. NOT. SPY. ON. ME! Or else this might end up happening to you." He turned the camera to face me again, with his telekinetic force still holding my arm in place. That was when the torture started. It seemed that Sonic had suddenly decided that my right arm had somehow offended him and that it had to go. So that's just what he did. He used his chaos forces to twist my arm in a way that arms are not supposed to. All I could think of was the excruciating pain his actions were causing. Eventually, my arm and shoulder could finally take no more, and they became separate.

I expected this to be the end, that I was about to die, either by decapitation or by blood loss from my wound. However, neither happened. Instead, Sonic, after dropping and destroying my communicator, began walking (slowly) towards me. He stopped when he was right in front of me, and ripped a strip of fabric from my dress, wrapping it around my now pointless shoulder as a makeshift bandage. "Go to Mobotropolis. Some of Eggman's old Roboticiser machines still exist, hidden in the city centre. They would be able to invent a new arm for you, if you can find them."

I have to admit that I was a little confused at this point. "Why are you helping me all of a sudden?" Once I heard his answer, I wished I hadn't asked.

"I can't keep using you as an example if you're dead! Now go, before I change my mind."

I was gone before he finished his sentence.

* * *

 **RDFAN7669 here again. Welp, there's the second chapter out of the way! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed typing it! See you in the next one!**


	3. Robotics

As Amy ran through the city of Mobotropolis, she received many strange looks, which, after a few moments turned into looks of horror. Amy was a minor celebrity throughout Mobius due to her longstanding involvement in the central core of the freedom fighters, so imagine the shock when people saw their favourite pink hedgehog running through the streets with only one arm. She was still searching for Eggman's machines which would give her a new arm, or so Sonic had said. She had already scoured most of the city, and she was running out of places to look. Eventually, she gave up. It was getting dark and it would be impossible to find these machines at night. Amy turned around and started heading for home. She sighed. 'If Tails was still alive, I wouldn't need to find Eggman's machines. He'd be able to fix up a new arm for me no problem.' As she rounded the next corner, she bumped into a large, bulky figure, and she fell over as a result. In the dimming light it was hard to make out the stranger's face, but she thought it looked vaguely familiar. "Oh, I'm so sorry, miss! I didn't see you there." She knew that voice.

"Rotor?"

"Amy?"

Rotor the Walrus was a freedom fighter from the days when Amy was a new recruit. Now retired, he was running AK Robotics, named after the Acorn Kingdom. He had set this company up during the days of Eggman to rival the tyrannical doctor's advanced mechanical arsenal. He was the main technician of the freedom fighters in the early days. This was the freedom fighter who taught Tails everything he knew. The news of Tails' death hit the walrus hard. Rumour had it that he had spent the five years after the crash building a robotic version of the two-tailed fox, but nobody had ever seen such a creation so they were still just rumours. Rotor helped Amy up to her feet and embraced her in a hug. Amy was happy to hug back, so she wrapped her one arm around the walrus. Rotor noticed this and broke the hug. Then he saw her arm, or rather her lack thereof. "Oh my gosh! Amy what happened?!"

"Sonic happened." Rotor's face fell. Sonic was another good friend of the walrus from the early days. To know that one of the strongest and most loyal of the founding freedom fighters was now viewed as a villain pained him to no end. Children who used to scream his name in adoration now scream it in fear and hatred. And now, Sonic had severely injured another of his friends. He let out a loud sigh. "I'm sorry, Amy. Follow me, and I'll see what I can do about getting you a new arm." And so, Rotor and Amy walked together towards the workshops of AK Robotics.

* * *

Knuckles was up at Angel Island, as usual. He leaned against the recently reassembled Master Emerald. After it was shattered on that fateful day ten years previously, the pieces scattered all over Mobius and it had taken him almost a decade to find all of the pieces. This had left Mobius completely vulnerable, because, without the Master Emerald, there was no way of recharging the Chaos Emeralds. Of course, Rouge, with her insatiable desire for jewelry, had attempted to steal the precious gems for herself on multiple occasions, but Knuckles kept her away from them, eventually convincing her to help him locate the shards of the Master Emerald. Once they had all been located, Rouge and Knuckles both watched as the Emerald became whole again, and subsequently returned the power to the Chaos Emeralds. Even for Knuckles, who had spent his entire life guarding the gem, it was an awe-inspiring spectacle. This had been a few weeks ago. Rouge had come and gone multiple times, many days and nights had passed, and everything seemed to be returning to normal. However, both of the notorious treasure hunters knew that things would never go back to the way they were ten years ago, as much as they longed for it to happen. After Sonic's outburst at the crash site, when he accused Knuckles of letting Tails die, Knuckles had wanted to punch him in the face for even suggesting such a thing, but he was trapped in Sonic's telekinetic grasp, so he couldn't do anything. Rouge had tried to comfort the echidna, which had helped. For a while. Over time, Knuckles started feeling like there was more truth in what Sonic had said than he was willing to admit. After a while, he had decided to leave the freedom fighters. He wasn't really surprised that nobody really tried to stop him. He guessed that they all subconsciously agreed with Sonic, as much as they tried to convince him otherwise. Rouge was the only one of his old friends that he stayed in contact with since he left. They had actually started dating just over a year ago. She was the one who kept him up to date with news from the freedom fighters, just as she kept them up to date with news about him. For now, though, he was alone, so he just lay back and continued to relax.

* * *

Amy flexed her new arm as Rotor looked on, with his arms crossed in satisfaction and a massive grin on his face. The process of installation was very painful for Amy, but now she could finally enjoy the reward. As she was admiring her arm, Rotor was talking her through all the new features. He had installed a new communicator into the wrist, as well as lasers, guns and a rocket launcher. There were three features that he was particularly proud of, however. The first was a shield function which could protect her from all projectiles, including lasers and bullets, as well as fire and two of Sonic's Chaos attacks: Chaos Blast and Chaos Spear. It wouldn't protect her from his telekinetic powers, but he would not be able to injure her if the shield was up in time. The second new feature was included as part of the shield: a cloaking device. As the name suggests, it would make Amy invisible to the naked eye for a short time, allowing her to make a quick getaway if necessary, or attack if she was feeling daring. The third feature that he had added was something that he dubbed "Werehog Mode". This would allow the arm to extend to nearly ten times its original length, or vice versa, within a matter of seconds. This mode also transformed her fingers into almost dagger-like claws, perfect for surprise long-distance attacks. By the time he was finished, Amy was giddy with excitement. She ran over to Rotor and embraced him in a tight hug, which he happily returned. "Thank you, Rotor! You have no idea how much this means to me!" It was at this moment when she heard the door open behind her and two sets of footsteps, one of which was decidedly metallic.

"Howdy, Rotor. Are you busy? My legs are jamming up on me something fierce and I reckon it's time for a tune up. Oh, I didn't know you had company. Wait, Amy? Is that you? Sally, I think that's our Amy!" Upon hearing that name, Amy did a quick 180 to face the two newcomers, two more faces she recognised: Bunnie Rabbot, another ex-freedom fighter famed for her three robotic limbs and Princess Sally Acorn, the leader of the original freedom fighter group, and Sonic's former girlfriend. Both of them had left the freedom fighters after Sonic went mad because neither of them could bear to stand against the hedgehog they had both known since they were five. In the ten years that followed, Sally's mother, the Queen, passed away, leaving Sally has the last in the line for the Acorn monarchy. Sally was the new ruler of Mobius, but she didn't want the title of queen, so she stayed as the princess. She may have not been a freedom fighter anymore, but she still helped from time to time by providing intel about Sonic or any other threats. Bunnie, on the other hand, almost vanished completely from the public eye. Instead, she joined GUN, working alongside Rouge as an undercover operative, which wasn't easy considering her robotic legs and robotic left arm. It was undeniable that she was still a powerhouse, but during her time at GUN, she honed her stealth skills as well. Even Rouge had to admit that she was jealous. Bunnie stayed in contact with all of the freedom fighters from Knothole, except Antoine, who died years ago when he ventured too far into the radioactive wastelands that surrounded Robotropolis, and Dulcy, who had left for the Great Dragon Migration to the Badlands, and Sonic, for obvious reasons. She met up frequently with Rotor and Sally, sometime for formal matters and sometimes for more casual affairs (or sometimes to get her robotic parts repaired, like today).

"Hey, Bunnie. Hey, Sally. Long time no see." She waved at them with her new robotic arm. This caused the two to gasp. Sally spoke. "Amy, what happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sally. As for what happened, I was at the crash site earlier on. Sonic showed up and I turned on my communicator to alert the rest of the freedom fighters. Sonic noticed and he wasn't happy about it, so he used his telekinesis to disconnect my arm from my shoulder. Rotor just finished this one before you arrived." Upon hearing his name, Rotor perked up. "Yes, so come on, Bunnie, let's get you sorted. Amy, you and Sally could go and wait upstairs and have a chat if you want. MTP-Bot will help you get comfortable." So that's just what they did. Rotor's labs were built just under his house, which he constructed after leaving the freedom fighters (with the help of some of Eggman's robots which he and Tails had reprogrammed). MTP-Bot was one of his own designs which he had finished five years previously. Nobody knew what this robot looked like except him. Amy and Sally had approached the top of the stairs and were standing at the entrance to Rotor's living quarters. As you would expect, there were many advanced security systems active to prevent unwanted guests from entering. Rotor had programmed a DNA scanner system at his door which accepted the DNA of Rotor's friends, like Sally and Amy, and rejected the DNA of strangers or his enemies, like Eggman or, more recently, Sonic. Although, unlike all of the other inventions within these walls, this one wasn't invented by Rotor. This became evident by the automated voice which emerged from the machine, because it spoke using a voice that Amy hadn't heard in ten years. "Scanning…. Welcome, Aunt Sally and Amy."

"Hello, Tails."

* * *

 **Well, that's it for Chapter 3. Hopefully you all enjoyed it! The next one should be coming relatively soon (I hope!)**


	4. Meetings

Amy and Sally stepped through the door, both trying to hide their watery eyes from the other. It had been a decade since either of them had heard Tails' voice. They were both remembering the happy days they had shared with the young fox. All of the victories, all of the celebrations, all of the laughter. But, of course these happy memories soon turned to sadness when they remembered that they would never be able to enjoy those things with him ever again. Amy remembered the last time she had heard his voice, ten years ago. She felt terrible that she wasn't there to save him herself. She had been watching TV in her house when Tails' distress call started broadcasting. When it had finished broadcasting, she was still just sitting there, in too much shock to move. She should have tried to do something! Anything! But no, she had just sat there. Sally, who had also received the message had wanted to help as well, but as royalty, her advisors had told her it would not be wise, just in case. And she had listened to them! Every day, she told herself that she should have put up more of a fight, and went against her advisors. Tails was the closest thing to family she had left, besides Sonic and The Queen. She should have tried to save him, but she didn't. She would have sent Bunnie or Dulcy, but Bunnie was being repaired, so there was nothing she could do, and Dulcy had already left on her Dragon Migration. So, all that Tails' so-called "Aunt" could do was sit and watch the boy die. What kind of ruler does that?

Both of the girls' thought processes were interrupted when they heard metallic footsteps approaching them from behind. Thinking it was Bunnie, they both turned around to greet their friend, quickly wiping their tears. But, neither of them were quite prepared for the sight that awaited them.

MTP-Bot was a simple robot. It wasn't the most advanced when it came to weaponry, or size. Instead, Rotor had spent years working on a convincing AI system for the bot, so it was smart. However, what had made the girls stop in shock was how the robot looked. Standing before them was a small, golden coloured metallic fox. It had blue eyes, white sections around its mouth, chest and inner ears. Its hands were styled to look like white gloves, and its feet were designed to look like red and white shoes. Of course, the most notable feature of this robot was its tail. It looked just like any other fox tail, with white tips at the end. What made this tail interesting however, was that it had a twin.

Amy and Sally couldn't quite believe it. The rumours were true: Rotor had built a robotic version of Tails. Then it became clear to them what the MTP in the name of the bot meant: they were Tails' initials (Miles "Tails" Prower). The tears they had wiped away when they thought it was Bunnie came back with a vengeance. This was made worse when MTP-Bot spoke. "Is everything alright? You both seem upset." It even sounded like Tails! "Is there anything I can do to help? I am MTP-Bot, but you can call me Miles."

* * *

Meanwhile, in an unknown part of Mobius, Sonic was out for a run, just like the old days. He may have become an evil madman, but there were certain aspects of his personality that remained. He still loved speed and he was still a lone warrior. Even in the days when he was a freedom fighter, he preferred to work alone on his own missions, mostly to ensure the safety of his friends, but also partially so he could take all the credit. His insanity had made this part of him even more prominent. That's why he had never asked for any followers, or made any of his own. He worked best on his own, and that's just how he liked it. Over the years, he had become increasingly power-hungry and sinister, eventually becoming more feared than Eggman could have ever dreamed of. Eggman was a joke of a villain, especially in comparison to the blue blur. Sure, Dr Eggman was far more intelligent than Sonic, boasting an iQ of 300 when he was still alive, but that didn't mean that Sonic was stupid. No, Sonic was impulsive, reckless and competitive, even when he wasn't the villain, but the main reason he was feared was the fact that Sonic was unpredictable. Nobody knew when or where he would show up next. However, right now, Mobius didn't have to worry, because he was just out for a run. In fact, he was running to a destination: The Cemetery. Even as a villain, he still cared enough about his deceased friend, even after ten years. Soon, he arrived at the cemetery, and immediately sprinted to the grave of Miles "Tails" Prower. "Hey, buddy. It's me again. Just wanted to say hello. I know I say that every time I come and visit, but I will keep doing that until I join you up there. Anyway, the freedom fighters are still going strong. Persistent, aren't they? I sent them a little message earlier, by removing Amy's arm. She should have a robotic one by now though, so she'll be fine. For now." He sighed. "I miss you, bud. You were taken from this world too soon. I hope you can forgive me for being too slow." Sonic turned to go. "Oh, and happy birthday." He decided to walk out of the cemetery, so he could think. As he was leaving through the gates, the last thing he expected to hear was a voice. "Hello, Sonic." He turned towards the gatepost, where the source of this voice was standing, and he responded. "Hello, Rouge."

"So, this is what you spend your time doing nowadays? Visiting the cemetery to talk to a friend who has been dead for ten years, after ripping the arm off someone who was friends to you both? I would have expected more from you, Sonic."

"Amy isn't my friend. None of you are, anymore. So, what are you doing here, Rouge? Trying to convince me that your boyfriend didn't leave Tails to die? It won't work."

"You haven't been around for the last ten years. You don't know how much your accusation hurt him."

"Do I look like I care? It was his fault that Tails died. Eggman may have shot the plane down, but Knuckles left him trapped in the plane, and that, in my opinion, is even worse. So, I want you to deliver a message to Knucklehead for me. Tell him to watch his back, because I will be coming for him soon. You saw what I did to Amy when she tried to spy on me. Tell him that he can expect much, much worse." To emphasise his point, Sonic transformed into his dark form for a split second, before reverting back to normal. "Do I make myself clear?" Rouge was speechless, something which hadn't happened in ten years. Sonic didn't like this. "ANSWER ME!" Rouge, still at a loss for words, simply nodded in fear. "Good. And if you try to stop me, don't expect to walk away afterwards. Now, fly away, little messenger." He turned and laughed as he walked off. "Fly away."

* * *

 **Well, that got dark. I must admit that I did struggle with the introduction to the MTP-Bot and Sonic's evil dialogue: How did I do? At the moment I actually have two possibilities for the MTP-Bot: should I make it like a Metal Sonic robot recreation of Tails, or should I make the robot be the real Tails with a new robotic body. Vote in the reviews and I will try to write the winner for a future chapter.**


	5. Hide and Seek

Knuckles had just woken from a short nap when he saw Rouge approaching. She seemed… scared? No, that couldn't be right. It's Rouge: she's not scared of anything… right? She was closing in fast, which just made her fear more obvious. Now he was nervous. If something could scare Rouge, it was serious. He stood to greet as she landed. "Rouge, what's wrong?"

"Sonic. I think he's going to try to kill you. He said he'd kill me too if I tried to stop him. All I can do is warn you and hope I can convince you to run. I don't know when he will try, or if he will even try at all, but I don't want you to take that chance."

"Ok, slow down! First off, when were you talking to Sonic?"

"Down at the cemetery. He was visiting Tails' grave again. I was about to go in and do the same when I spotted him. I confronted him as he left, and he gave me that warning, telling me to tell you to watch your back."

"Ok, next question: what makes you think he would be able to kill me?"

"Did you not hear what he did to Amy earlier? He ripped her arm off because she was spying on him with her communicator! Imagine what he'll do to you for 'leaving Tails to die'!" This made Knuckles stop. He knew that Sonic had grown violent, but to rip someone's arm from its socket was just wrong, especially if that person was a former friend! Now, he was starting to get scared as well. And he was tempted to run, as Rouge had suggested. Only, there was a problem, and it was large, green and shiny. The Echidnas had always guarded the Master Emerald. To leave it now to save his own skin would be a great disloyalty to his ancestors. He could always take it with him, but Sonic could sense the power, as he was a wielder of the power of the Chaos Emeralds, so he'd be able to track Knuckles down without much difficulty. The only other option would be to stay here with the Emerald and stand up against Sonic, but the outcome of that scenario was all too obvious. Knuckles gulped. He wasn't sure what to do. Rouge sensed his internal struggle, and she walked over to him. She was about to speak to him and put her hand on his shoulder when the Master Emerald started glowing brighter. Both of them turned to look at it, and in the light, they saw a figure appear before them. She was dressed in simple clothes, almost tribal in a way, with a patterned skirt and jewellery around her neck and arms. Both of them recognised her: she was Tikal, an ancient echidna whose soul resided inside the Master Emerald with the creature known as Chaos. She walked towards Knuckles with a knowing look on her face. "Go, Knuckles. If Sonic comes here and sees you he'll kill you. I shall guard the Emerald in your absence. I will not tell him where you are when he comes." She paused and glanced around. "Go! There isn't much time. I can sense him approaching. I shall send you to Amy's location. You'll be safe with her for a time. Good luck, my friends." She extended her arms towards Knuckles and Rouge as a faint green aura surrounded them. And then, in a flash of blinding light, the two treasure hunters had vanished. No sooner had the light dissipated completely when Sonic appeared. He stopped beside the shrine and looked around, trying to spot his target. When he realised that Knuckles wasn't there, he turned towards the Emerald and spotted Tikal. "Ah. Well, if it isn't the spirit of the Master Emerald herself. If I was here under friendlier circumstances, I'd be honoured. I don't suppose you'll be telling me where Knuckles is right now?" Tikal scowled and remained silent. Sonic transformed. "I thought not." He teleported behind Tikal and grabbed her by the neck. "Guess I'll have to force it out of you!" Even though Sonic's grip on her neck was quite tight, Tikal was able to choke out a few words through gritted teeth. "Over my dead body."

Sonic's grip tightened.

"That can be arranged."

* * *

Needless to say, it was a shock for Amy and Sally when Knuckles and Rouge appeared out of thin air in the middle of Rotor's apartment. Of course, this shock was emphasised when the apartment itself became far less welcoming. "Miles" activated a cloaking device, rendering himself invisible, and machine guns emerged from hidden cubby holes in the walls and ceiling. An automated version of Rotor's voice became audible: "Teleportation detected. Intruder alert. Identify yourself." After regaining their composure, Rouge and Knuckles both stated their names and scanned their retinas in another of Rotor's security devices before the weapons finally retracted back into their hiding spots. Of course, that was before they were both pummelled by an infinite barrage of questions from Amy. "What are you doing here? How did you get here? Is something wrong? Is it the Master Emerald? Why aren't you guarding it? Did Sonic destroy it?" The questions continued, with no clear end in sight. Rouge stole a glance at Sally, silently begging for help. Sally obliged. "Ok, Amy, calm down. Give them some space to breathe." Amy stopped instantly. She had known Sally for a long time, and she knew it was never a good idea to get on her bad side. Sally's next words were directed at the newcomers. "So, what did happen?" Rouge was the first to respond.

"I intercepted Sonic during one of his outings. I confronted him before he left and he told me to take a message to Knuckles, telling him to watch his back. I passed the message on and tried to persuade Knuckles to run, but it wasn't until Tikal appeared out of the Emerald and offered to guard it in his place when he agreed with me. Then Tikal said that she could sense Sonic approaching, so she teleported us both to you. Isn't that right, Knux?" Rouge turned to look at the echidna. He seemed spaced out, as if he was staring into space. "Knuckles?" When Knuckles went this silent, it usually wasn't a good sign. It was then she noticed where Knuckles' line of sight was directed: Amy's robotic arm. This made Rouge stop in her tracks as well. An awkward silence deafened the current occupants of the room. It lasted a few moments before Knuckles broke it with a growl. "Sonic. What happened to you?" Rouge in the meantime was worried about Amy. She was about to ask if she was alright when she was distracted by a robotic figure seemingly materialise behind the pink hedgehog. "Is that… Tails?" This got the attention of Knuckles, who turned to where Rouge was facing immediately. "Yeah. It's one of Rotor's inventions. Pretty neat, huh? It even sounds like Tails. He says we can call him "Miles"." Upon hearing his name, the robot turned to face the group. "Hello, Rouge and Knuckles. Would you like to take a seat? I have been monitoring your conversation with Sally and Amy, and it sounds like you would require some assistance. I would be able to protect you for a time, but I have no data on Sonic's fighting abilities."

"Rotor didn't equip you with weapons?" Amy asked.

"Actually, he did. I have a small selection of guns built in to my arms and my tails have three different forms: Standard, as they are now; Propeller, similar to how the blades of a helicopter are used for aviation and Defence, which makes them transform into a single large shield. But, these have never been tested before, so I cannot be 100% certain that they will function correctly. One fighting function that has been tested on me is similar to the old Eggman robot, Emerl. In a battle, in theory, I should be able to copy the attacks and counters of my opponents, but only one on one. And you have already seen my Cloak function, similar to your arm, Amy." After "Miles" had finished listing off his weapons, the group of non-robots decided to go and sit down in the apartment's living area whilst the robot activated one of his less life-threatening functions: making four mugs of hot chocolate for them to drink. They all decided to just relax and talk, at least until Rotor and Bunnie were done downstairs.

* * *

On Angel Island, however, things were not quite as relaxing. Somehow, despite she had very little fighting experience, Tikal was managing to hold her own against the supercharged hedgehog. Well, maybe "hold her own" is the wrong term. She did summon Chaos from the Master Emerald, after all. Chaos was a blue, translucent humanoid figure, seemingly made entirely out of liquid. Back when Tails was still alive, Eggman tried to manipulate him to steal the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic, a plan that backfired when Chaos turned on him and absorbed the power of all seven, transforming him to Perfect Chaos, a gigantic dragon-like creature capable of destroying cities (which he did). In the end, he was defeated by Super Sonic and subsequently reformed, before he was resealed into the Emerald with Tikal. Until today. Of course, this battle would be quite different to the last time these two powerful opponents faced off against each other: this time, Sonic was the bad guy and Chaos was fighting for good.

Sonic, currently in his dark form, was on the defensive at the moment. He didn't like being on the defensive. He tried to jump and attack Chaos from above, but he had to dodge another attack before he had the chance. He was getting more and more irritated the longer this battle went on, and this change was visible. As he grew angrier, his fur and aura became blacker, his spikes pointed upwards, and at the edges of his white pupil-less and iris-less eyes, a dark blue, fire-like aura could be seen. White and blue flashes started appearing around his body, until finally the energy which had been building was released. He let out a loud roar as a large pillar of dark energy rose to the sky, piercing the clouds. Once this subsided, Sonic was still standing there, but now his entire body was black, including his muzzle, arms and chest, with a red aura surrounding him. His eyes were still completely featureless and completely white, but now they were glowing. His spikes were now all pointing towards the sky, and black sparks were flashing everywhere.

Chaos, believing that he was still stronger, prepared to attack again, but as he was charging his next move, Sonic teleported behind him and quickly and painlessly spin dashed him through the head. Sonic knew that he couldn't kill Chaos, so he knew that Chaos wasn't dead, he would just reform inside the Emerald, where he would remain until someone summoned him. However, there was still another person on Angel Island whom he could kill. He turned to face her, a maniacal grin plastered on his face. Tikal was tempted to run, but she knew she wouldn't be able to outrun him. She looked at Sonic again. He had returned to his normal form and was slowly walking towards her. He was speaking. "So Tikal, there is one answer to my next question that will let you get out of here alive: Where is Knuckles?"

"Somewhere that you will never find him! I will never tell you!"

Sonic teleported behind her. "Wrong answer." He released a beam of energy like a sword through her heart, killing her instantly. As he was walking away, he started chuckling to himself. "Hide all you want, Knucklehead. As you know, I have a very particular set of skills, and I promise you this: I will find you, and I will kill you." This prompted his chuckles to increase in intensity, until they became a full on maniacal laugh. When he was done laughing, he teleported himself to the ground below Angel Island and began walking towards Mobotropolis.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 people! Sorry I took so long to upload this chapter. I'll be starting university in a couple of weeks, so things are a bit hectic at the moment. Combine that with the fact that I had a minor bout of writer's block during this chapter, and you have a long wait. Sorry again. Also, with regards to the two possible "Tails" scenarios I mentioned at the end of Chapter 4, I may not be using either of them. A third idea has popped into my head and I think that this will be the one I end up using. Or not. I'm not gonna tell you what this scenario is, because that would spoil the surprise. In any case, whichever choice I make, it will either appear in the next chapter or Chapter 7. I don't know how long the story will end up being, but I will try to keep it interesting for as long as possible. And, don't worry: I am still working on Decisions! This is RDFAN7669, saying see you all next time.**

 **(Also, thank you to " _Nio Hashiri's Riddles_ ", " _mlpsonicthaheghogfan_ ", " _Dragonblaze66_ " and " _Ashley Tigers_ " for either following/favouriting the story or myself. As I am such a novice to story writing, I appreciate that people are taking notice! And also thank you to " _Nio Hashiri's Riddles_ " (again), " _otakudbz_ " and a guest for leaving their positive reviews on the story so far.)**


	6. Found You

Rotor had finally finished with the repairs of Bunnie's robotic limbs and they were both now heading upstairs to get Sally and Amy. Rotor knew that the MTP-Bot was currently inactive and charging, as it was every day at this time, which almost made him sad. He hadn't expected Bunnie's tune-up to take so long and he had wanted to show the robot off to the semi-mechanical bunny. They reached the door of the apartment and went through the same entry protocols as the others and stepped inside. They were rather surprised to hear four voices instead of two. As they rounded the corner into the living area, they spotted Knuckles and Rouge chatting with the others. Rotor and Bunnie were confused at first, but they were also pleased to see their friends, so they welcomed them with smiles on their faces. These smiles faded when Rotor asked the all-important question: "What are you two doing here?" Rouge was the one to answer as she recounted the chain of events which caused them to be here. To say the least, Rotor and Bunnie were shocked. They knew Sonic was no longer their friend, but they never expected him to actually threaten someone he had known for the better part of twenty years. Sure, he killed The Chaotix, but they fought him and lost. He didn't actually threaten them. The same with Eggman. There were no threats made then either. But, what got Bunnie's attention the most was the fact that Tikal was still there. With Sonic. "I sure hope that Tikal's ok."

"Don't worry. She isn't." The group shivered at the new voice. They all turned to face the doorway, where the one person they didn't want to see was standing: Sonic. He had used his famous spin dash move to break through the door. Knuckles turned to face him. "How did you find us?"

"Please! Have you forgotten my chaos abilities? I can sense when someone uses chaos control. There is residual chaos energy always left behind the area the user teleports from, and where they arrive. But honestly, that isn't how I found you, although that would have been more impressive. I overheard Tikal saying that she would teleport you to Amy's location. So I followed the chaos energy signature that remained on her from our last encounter. It works like a tracking device, so it wasn't that hard. The only reason I took so long was because I needed to teach you all a valuable lesson about crossing me. Tikal refused to tell me where you are, so she is no longer alive." The colour completely drained from Knuckles face. "Such a shame. I always thought she was immortal. Guess not."

Monologue over, Sonic started slowly approaching the red echidna. "I've already killed one echidna today. Let's make it two for two." Amy stood in front of Knuckles, blocking Sonic's route. "Out of the way, Amy. I wouldn't want to have to remove your other arm. I don't want to kill you Amy, but I will if I have to!" Sally joined Amy in the barricade. "Ah. Princess Acorn. How nice to see you again after all these years. How are the Freedom Fighters doing? I'd wager they are rather bored, considering they no longer have anyone to fight. Well, except for me, and we both know how that fight would end. And speaking of the FF, we even have little old Bunnie and Rotor. Gosh, it's like a reunion!" Bunnie was the next to move in front of Knuckles, activating her arms' weaponry as well. "Oh come on, do you really think that a couple of guns will be able to stop me?" Rotor pushed a button on a remote control in his hand and the guns which were hiding in the walls revealed themselves again. And then he walked in front of Knuckles as well. Nobody saw the evil glint in Sonic's eyes"Well well, Mr Walrus. Aren't you the sneaky one? Still, even with all of these guns, you are powerless to stop me. You wanna know why? You forget I can-" Suddenly, Sonic vanished and instantly reappeared behind Knuckles. "-teleport!" He summoned the same beam of energy he had used to dispatch of Tikal, fired it through Knuckles' chest and had teleported away before the others had even realised what had happened. "KNUCKLES!" Rouge screamed as she saw the echidna fall, lifeless, to the floor. She knelt down beside him, trying to assure him that he would be fine. But, both of them knew that she was lying. Using the last of his strength, Knuckles reached into his fur and pulled out a small velvet box. So small, in fact, that nobody needed to question what was inside. He opened up the box to reveal a 24 karat diamond ring. Between his coughs and gasps, Knuckles whispered. "I guess there is no point in asking you to marry me now." Rouge just gasped, as Knuckles reached up and pulled Rouge into a final kiss, which lasted until he breathed his last. The box toppled out of his now limp hand on to the floor as his eyes glazed over and rolled back in his head. Knuckles was dead. Through Rouge's waterfall of tears, she spoke. "I would have said yes."

Finally, she broke down completely, sobbing hysterically. Amy, who was extremely tearful herself, walked up towards the bat and knelt down behind her. Sensing her friend's presence behind her, Rouge turned around and allowed Amy to embrace her in a hug. Sally, Bunnie and Rotor kept their distance. Out of all of them, they knew that Amy was the closest to Rouge, so they let Amy comfort her herself. Of course, that didn't mean that they weren't sad. Sally had known Knuckles the longest out of the entire group, because the Kingdom of Acorn and the Echidna Brotherhood had met frequently when they were both young children. Eventually, when Sally formed the Freedom Fighters, these visits became less frequent, and eventually the two lost contact completely, until he joined the FF. Then Tails died, and he left again. Since then, the friendly relationship the two had once shared had diminished to more of an acquaintanceship. And now he was gone. Of course, Bunnie and Rotor had both known him as well, but they only met him when he joined the fight against Eggman, and he didn't stay long enough for either of them to make proper friends with him. So, as Rouge and Amy both cried together over the loss of one of their closest friends, the three veteran Freedom Fighters just stood watch over the scene, with tears coming to their own eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Mobius, Sonic didn't know why he had let the others live. They had defied him, which is something that nobody was allowed to do. But he had let them live. He had gone for a run to try and clear his head a little. Was he going soft? Surely not. He may have been evil now, but he was still Sonic the Hedgehog. Then, he thought back to his earlier encounter with Amy, when he had disconnected her arm. He could have killed her then and there, but he didn't. 'I don't want to kill you, Amy.' That's what he had said to her at Rotor's apartment. He shook his head. What was wrong with him? Why did he say that?! He shook his head again, and continued running towards a city in the distance.

* * *

Back on Angel Island, at Tails' workshop (which was now a museum, called "Tails' Workshop", which had been commissioned by the Freedom Fighters to commemorate their young comrade), many different Mobians were wondering through the halls of the pristine white halls. It had been opened as a museum exactly one year after the death of the young kitsune. His living quarters had been left with their original décor, but had been tidied up by an army of servants borrowed from Sally's staff. A few of his inventions took pride of place in various locations around the house, each with a label explaining what it was. Outside the house, there was a large bronze statue of Tails, standing in his signature pose, with a spanner in one hand, and a blueprint scroll in the other. However, the biggest attraction for customers was, of course, the actual workshop. This had been left almost exactly as it was the last time Tails had left it, with blueprints for inventions he never got to make scattered all over the floor and worksurfaces, along with tools of every shape and size. Of course, Tails mostly used his workshop to work on his plane, but as the real Tornado was still lying at the crash site as a useless pile of metal, there would have been a massive empty space if Rotor hadn't offered to make a fullsize model of his famous plane, which he did. So, even though the plane in the workshop looked exactly as the Tornado had looked before its crash, this one would never fly. It didn't have the mechanisms necessary for flight, and it didn't have a pilot to fly it anymore. Hanging on the wall, there were pictures of the other magnificent aircraft the young fox had made: the Blue Typhoon and the X-Tornado. When Tails had died, only he knew where these two flying machines were, so they were still missing somewhere in Mobius.

* * *

Somewhere in Mobius, an unknown Mobian walked through the halls of the Blue Typhoon. He could certainly see why people called this thing a "flying fortress": it was large enough to be its own country! The Mobian was a nineteen year old fox, with dark red fur, with white fur surrounding his muzzle and black fur on his chest. His eyes were a light shade of blue, and he had a large red tail with a black tip. His name was Taylor Reynard, which was evident if you were close enough to read the small name tag on the back of the large white scarf he wore around his neck. He had a few scars on his right cheek as well as one small gash on the left side of his forehead. On his right hand, he had a metal claw like weapon which he wore like a glove. He wore an open leather jacket and jeans, along with his metal contraption, a white glove for his other hand, as well as white trainers on his feet. However, his most notable feature was the large case he had on his back. If one was to look inside this case, they would find a long, sharp sword. Taylor had created this fine blade himself, with the help of a few friends. For the last eight years of his life, he had been studying martial arts and self-defence, and over time, he had proven himself to be a fearsome fighter. Some people even reckoned that even if Sonic himself decided to fight him without going to his Dark form, he would struggle to beat him. He had stumbled upon this place when he decided to go for a walk after his previous martial arts lesson. His curiosity got the better of him, and now, here he was, walking through the long-abandoned space station. He had taken his phone out to use as a torch as he walked through the empty hallways, snapping a few pics along the way. When he felt he had seen enough, he headed back outside, promising himself that he would definitely return.

He had just stepped back out into the open world, when a dark blue blur sped past, kicking up a trail of dust in its wake. This blur needed no introduction: everyone knew who Sonic was. The dark blue hedgehog stopped suddenly, and turned around to stop in front of Taylor. "You got nothing better to do than to stare at me?! I don't really take kindly to that, so if you wanna keep your head attached to your neck, you'd better keep moving along." Taylor was almost tempted to unbox his sword and see if he could win a fight against Sonic, but he decided against it and turned to walk away. Sonic seemed satisfied with this response as he zoomed off, heading in the same direction as before.

* * *

 **So, there you have it, people! Chapter 6 is done. Hope you like the new OC (if anyone here is an artist, you are more than welcome to do any fanart of him (or Robo-arm Amy or MTP-Bot or even any of the Dark Sonic forms), as long as you let me see it!) As for his name, Taylor is just a name I thought sounded cool and Reynard is, as it is defined by WordNet, "a conventional name for a fox used in tales following usage in the old epic 'Reynard the Fox'", or "a surname (very rare: popularity rank in the U.S.: #27212)". In other news, I almost cried when writing the Knuckles death scene (or rather, the aftermath). It was made worse when the song "Daily Agony" from the SEGA video game Shenmue started playing on my iPod (It reminds me of a very sad scene from alvinearthworm's old YouTube/Newgrounds series "SMBZ"). It's a hauntingly beautiful song which focuses on the piano mostly, which appeals to me quite a bit, considering the fact that I am a diploma level pianist. In fact, I am actually listening to it again as I am typing out this Author's Note! And, it would appear that I have to thank " _pupys4lif001_ " for liking this story so much to follow its progress, and " _MineRobber_ " for leaving a review, as well as everyone else I thanked in the previous chapter. Anyway, that's enough rambling out of me, so I will see all you dudes, IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! (Jacksepticeye reference ftw!(Also, I hope people noticed the Taken reference at the end of the previous chapter as well!))**


	7. Dreams and Memories

The sun had finally set, putting an end to the sad day. Amy and Rouge had fallen asleep crying over the loss of Knuckles. Not only had the Freedom Fighters lost a powerful ally, but Rouge had lost her boyfriend. He was always there for her, even when she didn't want him to be. He was her guardian, not just the Master Emerald's. She shuddered when she remembered Sonic's heartless smirk as he took Knuckles' life. Oh, how she had wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. This was a hedgehog she used to work with on many anti-Eggman missions. She would have even considered him a friend in the old days. Now, she didn't want to know him at all. He was the one who injured Amy. He was the one who killed Knuckles, smiling. And he was the one who was going to pay. Even if it was the last thing she did, she would make him pay.

* * *

Amy dreamed of the days when Sonic was her friend. She found herself, running through the beautiful Green Hills with the blue blur running beside her, smiling at her. They kept running, admiring the bright scenery and lush flora, as well as the cute fauna scampering across the patterned grass. Amy knew that this was a dream, but she wished it was real. Dream Sonic started speeding up, so Amy accelerated in an effort to keep up with him. Then things started going wrong. Sonic's fur was darkening, his spines becoming more unruly. The sky had faded from its glorious blue to a dark grey, and the water followed suit. The giant palm trees and flowers started to wilt and die as they ran further and further. Amy kept running, but she could no longer see Sonic anywhere. Then things went from bad to disturbing. The water was no longer water, judging by its pure blood red colour. The sky had turned even darker, with storm clouds forming above, blocking the sun. None of the plants were alive anymore, but the worst was when she saw the critters. These were animals that Sonic had saved from Eggman's robots, many years ago, or their descendants. Now, they were in a state far worse than Eggman could have caused. They were more than dead: they were mutilated. Heads had been separated from necks, tails had been ripped out and torsos had been ripped apart. Amy thought she was going to be sick. And then it all just stopped.

She was still in the Green Hills, that much was certain, but now, there were no plants at all, except for the grass beneath her feet, and there were no animals, except for herself and Sonic, who had stopped, facing away from her, his fur now completely black. She slowly walked towards him, cautiously calling his name. At first he didn't respond, and Amy started hearing what could only be described as static, which got louder as she approached. She called his name again, louder this time. Still no response. On her third attempt he did turn around, but she wished he hadn't. His face, torso and hands were covered in blood which stained his black fur red. His mouth was twisted into a sinister grin which stretched across his entire face, showing off his teeth. Although, these teeth could only really be described as needle-like fangs that were dripping blood. His gloves had ripped and his nails had pointed into sharp black claws, which were also covered in blood. However, there were two things in this scene which scared her beyond belief. Behind this demonic version of Sonic, there was a grey, rocky cliff, and on this cliff, there were corpses. Seven of them, to be exact. All of them were male, except one, all of them were Mobians, except one, and all of them had been killed by Sonic, except one. Amy wanted to look away from the wall of corpses, but found herself unable to. She found herself trapped in the undead glares of Eggman, Charmy, Espio, Vector, Tikal, Knuckles and, above them all, Tails. They all just stared at her with their undead eyes. Sonic was staring at her too, and that was more frightening than everything else she had seen in this nightmare. The whites of his eyes were pure black, and his pupils were small, red and glowing. Once again she found herself unable to look away. She saw Sonic raise his arm and point at her.

It was at that moment when not even the word "disturbing" could explain how terrifying things had become. The seven corpses ripped themselves off of the cliff face, each of their eyes changing to match Sonic's, and they, along with Sonic went to surround her. They began closing in, chanting her name over and over again. Amy tried to escape, but she found it impossible to move. Eventually they were right on top of her, with Sonic's mouth opening wide, ready to strike. And, just as Sonic was about to deliver the finishing attack, Amy woke up screaming.

* * *

She reached over to her bedside table and checked her phone. 01:33. Great. She would never get to sleep now. She turned and flicked on her lamp, immediately regretting it when she saw the real Sonic sitting on her windowsill. "You know, you should consider yourself lucky I didn't kill you yesterday, Amy. And the others. You got in my way, and usually people who get in my way don't get to see the next sunset."

"What are you doing here, Sonic? You aren't welcome here anymore." Amy primed her arm's weaponry and pointed it at Sonic.

"Aw, I'm hurt. Do you think I care about permission?"

"You didn't answer my question. Why are you here? To kill me?"

"Oh believe me, if I wanted you dead, I'd have killed you already. I came to deliver a warning that I would like you to pass on to the other freedom fighters. Cross me again, and I may not be so merciful."

"Why? What did we ever do to you?! Sonic, we were your friends! We wanted to help you! You know, I still have nightmares about that day, Sonic! We all miss him and wish he hadn't died. Not a day goes by when I don't miss him. Every day, I wish I could see his face again. Every day, I wish I could hear him laugh. Every day…. I wish I had been in that plane with him. I went through the same pain you did, Sonic, but I fought through it! I knew that there wasn't any point dwelling on the past! How many of your old friends have to die before you realise that?!

Sonic was uncharacteristically silent. For some reason, this worried Amy. Sonic was unpredictable, so she didn't know what Sonic was going to do next. She stole a glance over at the other hedgehog. He had moved off her windowsill and was slowly walking towards the small armchair in the corner of her room. "You know, Amy? I remember that day, as well. I was so angry at Eggman and Knuckles. They caused his death, nobody else. Eggman fired the missiles at the plane, and Knuckles did nothing to try and save him. Honestly, I thought no ill of anyone else, except for maybe Shadow, who could have prevented Tails' death as well, but Knuckles… he just abandoned him. He left Tails in the plane when he could have helped him. That was something I could not forgive. I had known Tails longer than any one of you. I had gone out for a run through The Great Forest when I was seven. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until I found this little fox cub just lying in the middle of the trail. I shouted out, asking if anyone had lost their kid. No answer. So I picked him up, and I took him with me to a doctor. That's when I discovered he had two tails and that he was only two weeks old. The doc also ran a DNA test on him and found me the name and address of his parents. So I took him to their house, so I could reunite them with their baby boy. Do you know what they said?" Amy hurriedly shook her head. "They told me that I could keep the freak. They wanted nothing to do with him. They had other "more important" children to look after! Then they slammed the door in my face. I was so cross. So, I decided to look after him myself, with the help of my parents. He grew up with us, and I became his big brother. Then I joined the resistance when I was eleven, and used my speed to destroy some of Eggman's old bases. As a result, my parents were kidnapped and Roboticised, leaving me and Tails on our own again. I vowed to protect him, no matter what. Two years later, he started joining me on missions. Then he died, right in front of me. That's what broke me. I had promised him that I would always be there if he needed me, and then, the one time he needed me more than ever, I just stood by and watched! I guess, in my head, I never forgave myself, and I thought you guys would never forgive me either…" Tears had started forming in both of the hedgehogs' eyes. Amy was the next to speak. "You know, I always thought that the day Eggman was defeated would be the third happiest day of my life, after my wedding and the day my first child would be born. But, instead, it was one of my worst. I know how you feel, Sonic, I do. But, violence is never the answer, especially when it's directed at some of the closest friends you've ever had." She gestured to her arm. "But, killing Eggman, or Knuckles won't bring Tails back. I know it sucks, but that's the way life works sometimes." Sonic stared up at her, his watery green eyes almost glowing in the light. "And, by the way, I never blamed you for Tails' death. And, even if I did, I would have forgiven you." He stood up and walked towards her, then sat down beside her on the bed. "Thank you, Amy. I needed to hear all that. And I guess I needed to get all of that off my chest. Honestly, I'm not sure if I can go back to being the fun-loving, carefree hero I was ten years ago, and I don't think that people will really share your opinion of me after all of the things I've done since that day, especially Rouge and Sally. Honestly, I wouldn't have even expected you to forgive me, after what I did to your arm." What Amy did next surprised both of them: she embraced him in a hug. "Sonic, I don't care about my arm. Besides, I think the robo-arm makes me look badass! If anything, I should be thanking you!" This really took Sonic by surprise, especially when Amy started laughing about it. Eventually, Sonic's crimes made him push her away again. "And what about everything else, like Knuckles, or Tikal, or the Chaotix? Heck, I just single-handedly caused the extinction of the echidnas! How could anyone in their right mind forgive me for that?!"

"It may take me and the others some time to forgive you for Knuckles and Tikal, and we knew that the Chaotix had made a mistake when they decided to fight you. Sure, we miss 'em, but I don't think any of us really knew them well enough to mourn them properly, except for maybe Knuckles, Cream and Vanilla."

"Thank you again, Amy. You really helped me tonight." Sonic, still tearing up, leant over and kissed Amy on the cheek, which made her blush furiously. Sonic noticed this, and laughed. "I know you don't feel that way about me anymore, Ames, and I still don't feel that way about you, but I know that the twelve year old Amy Rose has been waiting for years for that. Consider that as me thanking you for tonight." Amy, still a little shellshocked, just nodded and smiled with her eyes wide open. Sonic stood up and started heading towards the window when he stopped. "Actually, Amy, I am planning to visit Tails' grave at around noon. Why don't you come with me and we can say hello to him together?" Amy finally managed to snap out of her stupor. "Th-That sounds nice."

Suddenly, Amy's phone beeped, signalling that the battery was fully charged. She looked down at her phone and saw that the time was around two in the morning. She sighed. She knew she wasn't going to sleep tonight. She looked back up at Sonic to say goodbye, but all she saw was an empty space and an open window.

* * *

 **Well, there you have it, boys and girls! Another chapter done and dusted! I'm definitely pleased and surprised by how this one turned out. When I had started this story, I had intended Sonic to remain the villain throughout, but after Amy's rant when he arrived, I decided that I wasn't going to make him completely heartless. There are still a few "Sonic vs other character" fight scenes I want to include, so maybe this reformation isn't going to be permanent. I don't know. However, despite the change in direction, I'm very happy with the end result. (And yes, Amy's dream scene was heavily based off the " " creepypasta.)**

 **Also, the backstory I wrote for Sonic and Tails meeting was completely original. Honestly, I prefer the canon version of their meeting scene from Sonic X when Tails follows Sonic, discovers his plane on the beach and repairs it for him. I changed it for this story because I don't really think that super happy backstory really fits with the mood I'm going for.**

 **Another thing, even though I ever so slightly hinted that this would somehow turn into a SonAmy fic, that is not the case. I intend to keep Sonic single for the entire duration of the fic. As for Amy….you'll all have to wait and see.**

 **Finally (this is a long Author's Note), I am planning to bring Cream and Shadow back into the story, either in the next chapter, or the one after that.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one!**


	8. Cemetery

Despite the fact that she hadn't slept since two in the morning, Amy was out of her bed surprisingly early. When she looked at the clock, it showed the time to be 9:30. She remembered that she would be meeting Sonic in two and a half hours, and for a split second, she didn't know how to feel about that: happy and excited because she was finally hanging out with Sonic again after ten years, or scared and apprehensive because this was the same hedgehog who tore off her arm, killed Knuckles and has been her enemy for the past ten years. She decided not to worry about it too much as she went downstairs to make herself some breakfast. When she reached her kitchen, however, she realised that she was not alone. Someone was behind her. She primed her arm's weaponry and spun on her heels, immediately pointing the barrel at…

"Rouge?! What are you doing here?" The bat looked at Amy, and the hedgehog could tell that she'd been crying. Although Amy knew the extremely obvious reason why the treasure hunter was crying, the fact that Rouge was crying at all thoroughly unnerved her. "Are – Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright to you?!" Rouge practically yelled. "I just lost my boyfriend!" Amy noticed the bat's hand. She was wearing the ring Knuckles had given her. Their engagement ring. This thought brought fresh tears to Amy's own eyes, but she couldn't cry in front of Rouge. She had to stay strong. "Rouge, I am so sorry." She couldn't think of anything else to say. She approached her friend to embrace her in a hug, which Rouge immediately returned. Rouge's crying began again, making it even harder for Amy not to join in.

Then the anger began.

"God, if I ever see that hedgehog again, I am going to kill him! He never gave Knuckles a second chance, so why should I give him a second chance?! It's been ten years! How the hell can you hold a grudge against someone for ten years for something that they didn't necessarily do?!" Amy was silent. Rouge broke the embrace. "You know, Amy, Knuckles didn't even know Tails was trapped. He thought he had escaped, just as he had. By the time Tails had started his final message, Knuckles was too far away to help. The only one who could have possibly helped was Shadow, and Sonic knows it!" Amy still remained silent. There was nothing she could think to say. Eventually Rouge had calmed down enough for Amy to invite her to join her for breakfast without it feeling weird. So she did.

The conversation continued like any normal conversation would after that. It was all going fine until Rouge asked a question. "So, what are your plans for the day, Amy?" It was a simple question from Rouge's perspective, but Amy froze like a deer in headlights. And for good reason. How else are you going to react when your plans for the day involve hanging out with the person who killed your friend's boyfriend? Amy had to think of something, and fast. "Nothing much. I was just going to head out for a walk. Rotor said my arm may lock up it I don't exercise it often enough." Amy was impressed with herself. She hadn't expected to come up with something so plausible. Rouge seemed to buy it, and Amy breathed a sigh of relief.

Rouge's phone beeped. It was a text message from Bunnie. After reading it, Rouge stood up. "Looks like Sally wants Bunnie and me to come in today for some GUN meeting. Thanks for, you know, comforting me earlier. And for the breakfast."

"No problem. I was happy to help." With that the two friends said their farewells as Rouge flew away to GUN HQ. Amy waved her off, and closed the door. She stole a glance at the clock and saw that it was now 11:00. So, she turned and went back upstairs to get ready to meet Sonic.

Half an hour later, she was out of the house walking towards the graveyard. The closer she got to her destination, the more nervous she became. This was Sonic. Unpredictable, insane, dangerous Sonic. And here she was, going to meet him.

After a few more minutes of walking, she arrived at the cemetery. Sonic was already there, waiting for her beside Tails' grave. "Hey." He sounded so nonchalant. It was almost as if the past ten years had never happened. This was the old Sonic. She looked up at him, and returned his greeting. They talked about the past, about Tails. They talked about all of the good times they used to have. Although, as they were talking, neither of them noticed the pair of red eyes watching them.

Meanwhile, back at GUN HQ, the meeting which Rouge had been attending had drawn to a close. All the agents who had gathered were all getting ready to leave again when the alarm started blaring. They all ran out to the command centre to find out what was going on. On the main screen, there was a message from one of the field agents on duty. He was a good friend of Sally and Rouge, but other than that he tended to keep to himself. But that wasn't important right now. His message was short, only containing four words, but the information included was as clear as day: SONIC SIGHTED, TAILS' GRAVE. Rouge was the first out of the door. She intended to make Sonic pay for what he did.

Sonic was in the middle of a sentence when he suddenly stopped talking. Amy asked what was wrong. He didn't respond. Instead, he teleported away. Amy was frantically looking around, scared that Sonic was about to reappear behind her, and end her life like he did with Knuckles. The weaponry in her arm was primed and ready to fire when she heard sounds of fighting behind her. For the second time that day, she spun around quickly to see what was going on. Sonic was shouting. "I thought I told you idiots to stop spying on me!"

"I know. I just chose not to listen to you!" Amy knew that voice. The Ultimate Lifeform. GUN's secret weapon: Shadow the Hedgehog. She decided it would probably be a better idea to leave them be rather than try to intervene, if she valued her life at all. So, she hid instead, behind the tree in the centre of the cemetery.

Sonic had gone full on Dark mode. He was angry. Of course he was. Shadow was the only person still alive that Sonic blamed for Tails' death. His punches were furious, his kicks were powerful, and not even Shadow was strong enough to counter attacks from a Sonic this angry. Eventually, one of Sonic's kicks managed to send Shadow sprawling to the ground. Sonic knew that he wouldn't stay down for long so he activated Chaos Control and watched as time crawled to a stop around him. He walked up to the non-moving form of Shadow, and decided not to kill him. He decided to hurt him a lot instead. Just as time was beginning to speed up again, Sonic punched Shadow full force in the face. He kicked him hard in the ribs, noticeably breaking a few. And, just for good measure, he decided to stomp hard on Shadow's most vulnerable part. After this was all done, everything began reanimating around him as time resumed. Almost instantly, there was a yell of agony beside him, and Sonic allowed himself a small evil smirk. Amy was standing there, peeking out from her hiding place. Sonic stopped when he heard groans from behind him. He decided that he wasn't quite finished with Shadow yet, so he used his Chaos powers to override Shadow's and the black hedgehog was teleported away.

Amy, sensing that the fight was over, emerged from her hiding spot. She thought it would be safe.

Sadly, she was wrong. In fact, things were about to become very, very unsafe.

* * *

 **I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG HIATUS! As I mentioned in the Author's Notes in previous chapters, I have just started university. I started back in September, and that took priority. Honestly, I sort of forgot about this story. But don't fret, ladies and gentlemen! The story's not dead. In fact, I will (hopefully) uploading the next chapter before the end of January. The updates still won't be as frequent as they were before I started, but we shouldn't (hopefully) have a hiatus as long as this one again. In other news, I have emailed all of my old, unfinished stories to myself, so expect to see some new shorter stories appearing soon. That's all for now. See you in the next chapter! RDFAN7669.**


	9. Massacre

Massacre. That was the only word that could describe the scene at the graveyard. The ground was covered with the bodies of dead GUN agents, scattered around like shrapnel from a bomb. Just after Sonic had ended his fight with Shadow, Rouge arrived from the air. Sonic noticed immediately, even though her arrival was almost completely silent, and he caught her using his Chaos powers and froze her in place. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to crash the party."

"Let me go, Sonic, or I'll – I'll…"

"You'll what? Attack me? Please. I could block all of your attacks before you even started making them." Rouge fell silent. She knew that he was right. Then she noticed Amy.

"Amy? What are you doing here? I thought you were going for a walk today." Amy froze for a moment. For the second time that day, she had to invent a quick excuse. "I-I did. I walked here. Even though I didn't need to, I wanted to visit Tails again. And apparently, so did Sonic." Once again, Amy was relieved when she saw that Rouge seemed to buy it. Rouge looked around again, hoping to spot Shadow. She noticed his absence, and her attention was directed at Sonic again. "Where's Shadow?"

"Somewhere far away from here. He shouldn't be bothering us again." Sonic chuckled, then stopped abruptly. "Wait how did you know Shadow was here?" Now it was Rouge's turn to freeze. If she told Sonic that Shadow had sent a message to GUN, not only would it ruin the element of surprise they needed if they wanted to ambush him, but, knowing Sonic, it would also most likely result in a quick and painful death for Shadow. "Uhhh…." Sadly, Rouge wasn't as good as Amy at making up excuses on the spot. Sonic noticed her hesitation. So did Amy. She knew what was about to happen, so she quietly snuck back to her hiding place.

Sonic's fur darkened. He grinned. "OK, GUN agents. You can come out now. I know you're all here." The graveyard remained silent. "So be it, then." Dark Sonic started glowing red, and every other person felt a chill run up their spine. All of the GUN agents, as well as Amy and Rouge, had worked with Shadow at least once. They knew what Chaos Blast was. The glow around Sonic expanded rapidly, creating a massive dome of energy, just like Chaos Blast. However, when Sonic stated the name of the attack, a habit he picked up from Shadow, it wasn't what anyone expected. "Chaos Barrage!" The sphere stopped expanding. There were a few seconds of silence, before all hell broke loose.

Small lightning bullets started shooting out from the sphere, exploding when they came in contact with anything (or anyone). A few GUN agents were unlucky enough to suffer direct hits, and some were hit by the debris of what used to be graves. Amy had already activated her shield and Rouge was nimble enough to avoid most of the attacks. The only thing either of them could do was sit and watch. The Chaos Barrage was still going, and already about half of the GUN agents who had accompanied Rouge were dead or unconscious. The glowing sphere around Sonic finally dissipated, and some of the GUN agents were foolish enough to emerge from their hiding spots, thinking they were safe.

They weren't.

Sonic was all over them as soon as they emerged, using his much more energy-efficient attack, Chaos Spear. He didn't miss a single shot, and eventually the corpses who were six feet under had a few more companions. Finally, Sonic calmed down and returned to his normal form as Amy and Rouge approached him. Rouge tried to attack Sonic with her signature Screw Kick, but Sonic blocked her before trapping her with his Chaos Force. He glared at her. "You're lucky we used to be friends, Rouge. It's the only reason you are still alive right now. Besides, I need you alive. You can deliver my message to GUN. It's a short message, only two words in fact." He returned to his Dark form momentarily. "BACK OFF!" Sonic released his hold on her, and she collapsed to the ground.

"The same goes for you, Amy. I'd hate to have to remove your other arm." After this, Sonic turned around to face Tails' grave, one of the few still left standing. "I'm sorry you had to see that, bud." After this, Sonic used Chaos Control and he was gone.

* * *

 **I'm not dead! I'm finally continuing the story! I know I said there wasn't going to be a long hiatus, but once again, university took priority. I'll definitely have more chapters coming soon, and I will also attempt to bring Cream back into the story, as well as Taylor. Hopefully you all are still enjoying the story and I'll see you in the next chapter. Ciao for now! RDFAN7669**


	10. Interview

After Sonic had disappeared from the graveyard, Rouge collapsed in a heap to the ground. She was surrounded by bodies. These were agents that she had called friends, some of whom she had known for years. She was, at the very least, relieved that agents like Sally, Bunnie and Rotor weren't here. Amy emerged from where she was crouched and went over to comfort the bat. She was about to reach her arm around her friend when Rouge stood up and turned to face her. Seeing the absolute, unadulterated rage in Rouge's eyes made Amy back off. "HQ, do you copy?"

"Yes, we copy, Rouge..." Sally's voice. "Come back to HQ, Rouge. We don't know what Sonic's gonna do in his current state. Bring Amy with you. She's probably a little shellshocked."

"Affirmative, Sally. Heading to HQ now." Rouge deactivated her communicator and grabbed Amy's robotic arm before taking off back to the HQ, without a single word.

After he had vanished from the graveyard, Sonic rematerialized at Tails' Workshop, or more specifically, Tails' living quarters. Even when his workshop was opened as a museum, his home was left private. Sonic usually came here to calm down after a rage. The actual Workshop was still open to the public at this time of day, so Sonic needed to keep his volume down, as to not get discovered. He hated hiding. It was so against his nature. He liked being loud. He liked being fast. He liked being brash. He collapsed onto a sofa. He was quite drained from the one-sided battle from earlier. His Chaos Barrage attack was one of his most powerful, but also one of the most exhausting. A nice, refreshing power nap sounded good right about now. So that's exactly what he did.

Meanwhile, in a town a few miles outside Mobotropolis, Taylor was at one of the local pubs. It wasn't the cleanest pubs in the area, nor did it have the best service, but Taylor found it relaxing. Most of the time, it would be quite empty, meaning it was the perfect place to go to just sit and think without lots of noise. Usually there was a TV on behind the bar playing news or sports or whatever else happened to be on. Today, it was news, so Taylor decided to listen to the blonde haired squirrel reading the headlines. "GUN suffered a great loss today as a large number of their forces were victims of the latest act of violence by Sonic the Hedgehog. This occurred at the cemetery where Miles "Tails" Prower, the famous freedom fighter from the Eggman era, is buried. Rouge the Bat, the only agent who survived, and long time freedom fighter Amy Rose, who was visiting Tails' grave at the time of the attack, are joining us now from GUN HQ, along with Princess Sally Acorn. Good afternoon ladies. So, what exactly happened earlier?" It was Amy who answered the question. "Well, I had arrived at the grave to pay my respects to Tails when Sonic showed up. He appeared to have the same idea. Apparently, Shadow, as a GUN agent, had tracked Sonic to the graveyard. They got in a fight, and Sonic won, and he teleported Shadow away as Rouge arrived."

"And, Miss Rouge, how did you know where Sonic was, or were you just paying respects to Tails like the others?"

"No. Once Shadow had eyes on Sonic, he had sent a message to GUN HQ telling us where he was. I led the team to the graveyard and I confronted Sonic as everyone else hid to prepare for an ambush. Unfortunately, I noticed the absence of Shadow, and I made the mistake of asking where Shadow was. From Sonic's perspective, I shouldn't have known Shadow was there, so he figured out our plan and began his attacks. And then... well, you probably know the rest..."

"So, Amy, you were there for the fight between Shadow and Sonic. How bad did it really get?"

"Hard to say really. I've had a lot of experience with both of their fighting styles, so I knew it was probably best to stay out of the way. Although, from my vantage point, I could see that Sonic definitely had the upper hand for pretty much the entire fight."

"Now, this attack comes only a day after the death of Knuckles the Echidna, another former freedom fighter, marking the fifth death caused by Sonic, following the death of Eggman and the fall of the Chaotix Detective Agency. Do any of you have any comments on that?" Amy spoke up quickly. "We were all there when Knuckles died. We did try to stop Sonic, but he was determined. He blamed Knuckles for Tails' death, so he definitely had a score to settle there. In fact, Shadow is the only person still alive that Sonic blames for Tails' death. That would explain why he was so angry when Shadow showed up."

"And, Rouge, do you have any comments on this at the moment?"

"Knuckles was a good man. We had been dating for about a year before he was killed. In fact, I would say that all of the agents who were killed today were good men and women. None of them deserved this fate. Honestly, after all he has done to hurt us, I am finding it hard to believe that we were all friends of Sonic ten years ago. We all adored him as a hero, as an ally, as a friend. And look at him now: a murderer, of people who used to call him a brother. I just wish none of this had ever happened, and we could all go back to how we were ten years ago."

"Thank you, Rouge and Amy for your comments. Princess Sally, what do you have to say about all of this? You were the closest out of all of us to Sonic before he turned."

"Honestly, I don't have much else to say that hasn't already been said. But, while some of his crimes as of recent weeks and months are unforgivable, I wish we could break through and get the old Sonic back. Like everyone who has fallen by his hand, he used to be a great hero. If we ever get the chance, I hope we'd be able to make him see that he could be a hero again."

"Thank you for your time. It's now 1:48, and here's Sara with the weather."

Taylor had watched the entire conversation with rapt attention. He was always quite curious about the various exploits of Sonic. He had heard of Knuckles, of course, and he knew that he used to be friends with the hedgehog who just killed him in cold blood. Taylor didn't what to call that, but it sure as hell wasn't friendship. Seeing this recent news about Knuckles, and the Graveyard Massacre, it made Taylor think. Currently, Mobius needed a hero, and Sonic was obviously unable to fill that role this time around. He had always said there would be no way that that hero would be him, but seeing news of this nature had just changed his mind. He was going to do something that he swore he would never do.

He was going to fight Sonic.

* * *

 **HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THIS STORY AGAIN?! I need to get back into this properly, especially now as it's getting more intense. I will really try to keep going this time and not make you lot wait for ages again. I won't make any promises this time, just in case I do forget, but I will certainly try to have the next chapter done soon. Special thanks to "Merlikuty" for following the story. If it wasn't for you, I would have likely continued to forget about this! Anyway, this is RDFAN7669 saying see you next time. Ciao for now!**


	11. A Rabbit and A Fox

Ten years ago, there was a six-year-old bunny rabbit named Cream. Other than Sonic, she was the closest to Tails of their little group of friends. She loved spending time with him, hearing about his latest adventures with the hero Sonic or helping him test his latest inventions. Then…. it all ended. He died, and she couldn't change that. Now, ten years older, the sweet little Cream had turned sour. Now sixteen, she had changed almost as much as Sonic had. Gone were the days when her outfit was a small orange dress, being replaced by torn jeans and t-shirts. Gone were the days when she used her imagination to escape to her own world, instead choosing to listen to music to block out the world around her. Gone was the little girl who was always smiling. Nowadays, if she smiled, it was laced with sarcasm. She hadn't smiled sincerely in ten years.

Of course, there was one massive change that nobody could have predicted, not even her own mother: she worked for GUN. Sort of. More like she worked with GUN. When she felt like it. She liked to think of herself as a freelance secret agent, having most of the skills of GUN agents, but usually choosing to work alone.

Today, while all the big wigs at GUN were trying to figure out the next CSS (Counter-Sonic Strategy), she was keeping herself busy with small-time criminals mostly. A robbery here, a drug smuggling there. She was rather impressive at her job, boasting a near perfect track record, even though she was much younger than most GUN agents and Freedom Fighters. Of course, she had the Freedom Fighters to thank, specifically Sally and Bunnie, for her skills.

Her target for today was the usual burglar. Just the run of the mill crook, the kind of person who always seems to underestimate her because she's a bunny. He had broken into an apartment in the centre of the city, and was about to leave with his satisfying haul when Cream arrived, blocking his way out. His response was the usual: "Out of the way, toots! I'd hate to break that fragile little body of yours." He wasn't a small guy, Cream observed: this guy was tall, with grey fur and a somewhat bushy tail: a wolf, to be exact. Cream smirked. "This will be a breeze."

Once the wolf had noticed she had no intention of moving, he lunged forward, swinging his arm out in a wide right hook. Of course, he wasn't expecting any of what happened next. Cream ducked low to avoid the attack, as he lost his balance because of the miss. She took advantage of this and swung around on her hands like a break dancer before delivering a hard two-footed kick to his unmentionables and his chest, knocking him over. And the fight was over. In under a minute (A/N I told you she was good…) The wolf howled in pain as he fell to the floor, at which point, Cream simply walked up to him and pinned him down whilst reaching into her pocket to grab her phone to call the police.

Taylor had returned to the wreckage of the Blue Typhoon. The place intrigued him. There were so many memories in this place, he could sense it. Memories of the intrepid team of friends and freedom fighters who had left to explore space and protect it from the threat of the Metarex. The stories of their travels were famous and infamous in equal measure: famous because of all the bravery that Sonic and his friends had displayed against the almost indestructible foe, and infamous because of the massive loss they all suffered right at the end of their journey, right when they thought they would all make it alive. Cosmo was a valued team member, especially in those final days, and then she had to sacrifice herself to save her friends. Of course, as if he hadn't already suffered enough, but Tails had developed a love interest in the girl, so losing her affected him the most out of all of them. Or at least, that's how the story went.

As Taylor carried on walking through these halls, he decided to look for the old sleeping quarters, because he had a strange urge to stay here for the night. He didn't have anything against the place where he stayed normally, but he was curious about this place. He wanted to experience it. After exploring the various different levels of the gargantuan ship for about an hour, he found them. Now was the decision of which room he would pick. He could have picked Sonic's, but because of how badly that name had been tainted, he decided against it. He could have chosen Knuckles' or Cosmo's rooms, but since both of them were dead, he thought it would be disrespectful. Amy's and Cream's rooms were next, but just the idea of sleeping in a girl's bed, even if she never used it anymore, didn't suit him. That only left two: the room of Chris, the eighteen-year-old turned twelve-year-old human from an alternate dimension who had joined the crew of Mobians for this adventure before being sent home, or Tails, the captain of the ship who was the only other fox in the roster. Of course, like Knuckles and Cosmo, Tails was dead and he had been for ten years now, but somehow, he felt more drawn to the captain's quarters than he was expecting, so he decided that that was where he'd be sleeping tonight and he walked in and started getting ready for bed.

The police had just left with the wolf in handcuffs and Cream was walking back to the town centre when she received a phone call. After fishing the phone out of her pocket and glancing at the Caller ID, she answered.

"Hey, Ames. What's up?"

"Apart from the fact that I just witnessed an entire GUN team get obliterated by a very angry Sonic, not much. GUN is pulling in assets from all over, including allies from the Resistance and the Freedom Fighters. They'd like you to report in too."

"I'll pass, thanks."

"Wha- Why?!"

"I'm guessing this is gonna be about Sonic: GUN's latest CSS. Well, Amy, the next time I see Sonic, after all that he has done to hurt us, no matter how much I used to admire him, I'm taking him down, even if I have to take him down with me. Simple as that." Cream was about to hang up when Amy spoke up again.

"You're right, Cream. We are calling you in to talk about Sonic, but we've already tried everything else. We need all the help we can get! Please, Cream. We need you, just as much as we need everyone else."

"Ugh. Fine. Be there in a few." With that, Cream hung up, and used her ears to lift herself off the ground, a trick she'd learned as a child, and started to fly in the direction of GUN HQ.

* * *

 **WHY AM I SO BAD AT UPDATING THIS STORY?! Sorry again guys for the long wait. I swear I don't mean it! Well, I kept my promise and I've finally brought Taylor and Cream properly into the story. The next wait shouldn't be quite as long, so I'll see you all again soon.**


	12. Crossing Paths

It didn't take Cream long to make it to GUN HQ. Because it was so late at night, the streets were practically empty. She made her way through the main door and up the stairs to the main meeting room. Even though she wasn't officially an agent with GUN, she knew her way around this place like the back of her hand. It paid to have connections in high places.

Amy was already there when Cream arrived, along with Sally, Bunnie, Rouge and a small group of other agents. She scanned through the faces, not expecting to see any others that she knew, but one face caught her attention. Rotor was here too.

After a few more minutes, once the rest of the agents had arrived, the emergency meeting began. They began by discussing their previous attempts, specifically where those plans had gone wrong. And every time, they came to the same conclusion: the reason that their plans to stop Sonic failed was because Sonic was smart. As a former Freedom Fighter, he knew their tactics, he knew their weaknesses.

He knew them.

Of course, this was a double-edged sword, because they knew him as well. Although, that just gave them more reasons to fear him. They knew of his multiple forms, his super speed (obviously) and his almost imperceptible reflexes. From every possible angle, Sonic was the hardest opponent the Freedom Fighters had ever had to face. Sure, Eggman and his robots were formidable, but they were easy to analyse, and even easier to defeat. And this was also the first opponent they had ever had to face without Sonic's help. He had used to be the deciding factor in a lot of their old battles against the mad scientist. But, now that he was on the other side, that obviously wouldn't be an option. And, with each ally that died at the hands of Sonic himself, the odds of beating Sonic became even less likely each time. So, the chances of beating Sonic were slim, and everybody knew this.

However, just because they knew that beating Sonic was a very unlikely occurrence didn't mean that they accepted it. Once they had finished discussing where their previous plans had failed, they finally started discussing the real reason they were all there: the next plan.

The general consensus was that if they wanted to beat Sonic, they would have to do something that they had never done before, something Sonic would not expect. Amy, Bunnie, Sally and Rotor proved the most insightful in this area, as they were the four who had known Sonic for the longest. Cream herself also had a few good ideas in this regard, but she had known Sonic for the shortest time before the day he 'broke'. One thing Cream did notice was that those four former Freedom Fighter members kept giving each other sideways glances, as if they knew something that the rest of the room did not. By the end of the meeting, she got the reason why.

Most of the other brainstorm ideas had been deemed 'unlikely to succeed', even though most of them had been suggested by the most decorated agents there. So, as the meeting was only a few minutes away from ending, Rotor offered one final idea:

"Alright, if none of those options are on the table any longer, perhaps I have a solution. I know there have been rumours that I have been working on a robotic version of Tails for the past few years. Well, these rumours are not false. MTP-Bot is a reality. I programmed him specifically to look, sound and act as close to the real fox as possible. But, of course, with some extra offensive strength and advantages. I know that suggesting that we send a robot to fight Sonic might sound like a stupid idea, considering the fact that most of his career as a Freedom Fighter revolved around fighting robots built by Eggman, and most of those fights were successful. However, we must also take into consideration that Sonic's mind started destroying itself when Tails was killed. I believe that facing an opponent that looks and acts like the Tails that died ten years ago will be just the distraction we would need. If we had asked Sonic to fight the real Tails ten years ago, you would be sure that he would either outright refuse or not fight at his full strength. While we may be unable to make him fight the real Tails, making him fight my robot would be the next best thing."

Rotor finished his speech to a silent room. Only for a second, nobody in the room spoke. Then he broke the floodgates with two simple words: "Any questions?"

Taylor was trying to fall asleep, but the excitement of staying in the Blue Typhoon and his curiosity about the place was making that very hard to do. Eventually, he just gave up and decided to wander around the giant ship to see what else he could find. He didn't bother getting dressed again; his fur was more than enough for this. He left the sleeping quarters and started up towards the main bridge. Of course, like Cosmo, the story of the Blue Typhoon itself didn't have the happiest ending. The Metarex were brutal and the bridge was destroyed pretty early on in the battle. The power source of the ship, the Master Emerald, was damaged, so the Typhoon didn't have enough power to do any significant damage to the enemies. Even after Cosmo's transformation to contain the leader of the Metarex, the Typhoon would have been unable to fire its main weapon, the Sonic Power Cannon, had it not been for Dr Eggman. This was one of the only moments when Sonic and the rest of the crew of the Typhoon had ever teamed up with the insane genius, but both sides had agreed that the Metarex were a dangerous enough enemy that they could put their differences aside, even if just for a moment. The Typhoon and the ship that Eggman had used to pursue them into space were fused and both ships sent all of their power to the Sonic Power Cannon so that it could fire at the absolute maximum. In fact, it was even Eggman who had helped Tails when the fox had found himself unable to fire at Cosmo. Eventually, the cannon was fired, and Sonic and Shadow, both in their super forms, rocketed towards the giant mass that was the Metarex leader to finish him off for good. And Cosmo, unfortunately, along with him. After this entire affair had ended, and they had all returned home to Mobius, the Typhoon had suffered from a rough landing. Tails had never intended to return to space after that, so he never bothered to repair the ship, leaving it in disrepair until Taylor had found it.

Back in the present time, Taylor found himself at the door to the main bridge, which had been blown off its hinges, and beyond it, the destroyed bridge loomed before him. He looked around and saw the six different cockpits, all covered in debris and shattered glass. All of the technology had been damaged so badly that internal components were strewn on the other side of the room than the machine they had originated from. Put simply, the room was a mess. Taylor smiled sadly, as he thought about all of the memories that had been made here. He was about to turn and leave the room when he spotted something glinting from the corner of his eye. It appeared to be a small watch-like device that was dominated by a screen in the centre. It appeared to be a communicator of some kind, and despite years of no use whatsoever, it appeared to be in pretty good condition. He pushed the button on the side, just to test if the device still worked.

Back at GUN HQ, the agents, having agreed that Rotor's robot would have been the best option were all heading back. Cream, Amy, Rouge, Sally, Bunnie and Rotor were the last few to leave. As they were about to, Amy's arm began to beep. At first, nobody knew what was going on, but after a few moments, Amy realised it was her communicator. Curious, she looked at the Caller ID.

And she went pale.

Cosmo.

She answered.

"H-Hello?"

An unfamiliar face greeted her. He was a red-furred fox with blue eyes, and he seemed just as surprised as she was.

"Oh. Hello. Sorry, I just found this and I was just checking to see if it worked."

Amy pushed another button on her arm and transferred the video feed up to the main screen in the conference room for the others to see. They all froze as well.

"Well, I'm Amy Rose. Pleasure to meet you. But where did you find the communicator?"

"I know who you are, Amy. You are quite the celebrity." Amy blushed, and she prayed to God that nobody else would notice. "As for where I found it, it was in the wreckage of a big ship. I think it may have been the one that you took up to space. I went to explore and found it in the main bridge. Oh, and the name's Taylor, by the way. Taylor Reynard."

"Well, Taylor, I'm honestly impressed that you managed to get through to me in the first place. That communicator probably hasn't been used in at least a decade! And you do seem quite familiar with it. You must have been a pretty big fan of us back in the day."

"You could say that."

"And then, it all went down the drain ten years ago."

"Yeah… I wish I could take Sonic down myself, just so I could remind him of all of the fans and friends he had back in those good days. I know that Tails' death was hard for him, but it was hard for all of us, especially for us foxes. Tails was probably the most famous fox in Mobius history, and suddenly he was gone. How did Sonic think we'd feel?!" He sighed. "Sorry, I guess I just needed to vent."

It was at this point that Sally grabbed Amy's arm and twisted it to point the camera towards herself. "Well, Taylor, as much as we agree with your views, I would advise you to stand down. We don't want any civilians with no ties to Sonic to put themselves at risk. GUN already has a plan in place."

"Princess Acorn?! It's an honour." Taylor bowed slightly. "If you don't want me to get involved, then I won't, but I believe I could be of use. I am an experienced swordsman and I have trained in various martial arts. I even create my own weapons. I know it's probably very unorthodox to invite a random civilian with no military background into a GUN operation, but I still believe I could be of service if you'd give me an opportunity."

Sally thought for a moment, then she turned to face the others in the room. All of their faces seemed to be thinking about this too. She decided that she would need to make the first decision here.

"Ok. I'll be willing to invite you to GUN HQ to test your skills. If I think they'll be of use in the field, I'll consider including you in this operation."

"Of course, Princess. When should we meet?"

"How soon can you get here?"

Taylor responded with a knowing smirk and responded quickly.

"I'll be there in 20 minutes." With that, the call ended, and Taylor's face faded from the screen. Immediately, everyone started running about the room, trying to prepare for Taylor's arrival.

All except one. Cream just stared at where Taylor's face had once been. She wasn't sure, but for some reason she felt like she had recognised him from somewhere.

* * *

 **I am so bad at this! I keep forgetting about updating this! I have kinda been a little distracted by my Xbox (and anime), but I think this story deserves to keep going, and you all deserve a story that updates REGULARLY! I won't make any promises, but I will certainly at least try to keep you posted.**

 **Anyway, in case anyone is wondering: no, this is not a new chapter. I spotted a couple of typos when I was re-reading this one, so I have fixed them and I have taken the opportunity to update this Author's Note as well. I'm going to be writing the actual Chapter 13 in a few minutes, so be on the lookout for that soon. RDFAN7669.**


	13. Training

After quickly grabbing his things, Taylor had quickly run out of the Typhoon and in the direction of Mobotropolis. The journey didn't take that long, and he quickly found himself in the heart of the sprawling metropolis. He knew the city well, so finding his way to GUN HQ wasn't too difficult. As he entered the building, he saw Princess Sally waiting in the foyer, with Amy standing beside her. They saw him too, and beckoned him over.

Sally started. "Ah, Taylor, was it? Pleased to meet you in the flesh."

"The pleasure is all mine, Princess. And the same to you as well, Miss Rose."

Amy started blushing again. She hated herself for it.

Meanwhile, Sally continued. "Amy here is going to be testing your skills today, along with my help and the help of Bunnie Rabbot. As you probably know, the three of us were all Freedom Fighters back when Sonic was, so we all have fighting experience, and we all have experience with Sonic. The training room is this way, if you'd like to follow me."

"Of course, Princess."

"I'm not a Princess in here, Taylor. Just call me Sally."

"Sure thing, Sally."

The trio approached a set of double doors, which opened to reveal a medium-sized hall. Certainly big enough for the four Mobians that were using it. Bunnie was already there when they all got there.

"Howdy, sugar. Apparently, you already know us, so I won't bother to introduce myself, but you must be Taylor."

"That's right, Bunnie. I hear you're gonna be helping Sally and Amy with this little test."

"I am indeed, sugar. Although, I bet neither of these two have explained yet how this test is gonna work."

"Not as of yet."

"Well then, allow me. Essentially, we are gonna fight you. Between the three of us, we have more combat experience than any other agent here at GUN. And, because we are all former Freedom Fighters, we are also one of the best sources of intel about Sonic's fighting skills and tactics as well. Honestly, this is quite a rare privilege. Not many GUN agents get to train with us three former freedom fighters, let alone on their first day!"

"Hehe. I can imagine. I can't quite believe it myself!"

It was at this point that Sally spoke up. "Well, what do you say we get started?"

"Sounds good to me." Taylor got into a fighting stance and prepared to fight the three veteran freedom fighters.

"Ready? GO!"

Bunnie and Amy were the first to advance on the fox, but his first move was to jump. In the air, Taylor opened his case strapped to his back, and grabbed his sword. Sally jumped in an attempt to intercept him in the air, but a well-timed kick from the fox put a stop to that plan rather quickly. As he landed, Taylor heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed, so he turned and saw Bunnie charging at him with a large blade protruding from her left arm. Smiling, he readied his own blade. If only Bunnie had known that his was not a normal blade.

As the cyborg rabbit closed in, Taylor pressed a button on the handle of his sword. Suddenly, the blade was absorbed in electricity, yellow sparks flying everywhere. It was at this moment when Bunnie immediately changed to a defensive mode, rather than the offense she had been planning. Taylor spotted this and took advantage, taking his turn to charge at her. The blades clashed again and again, and each time, a small electric shock ran through Bunnie's left arm. Not enough to do any damage, of course. Taylor had made sure to keep the voltage low. Amy and Sally were also trying to take advantage of this situation, so they were charging at the fox from either side, hoping to back him into a corner. Of course, Taylor had thought of this. After a particularly big swing at Bunnie (which caused her to lose her balance), he jumped again, managing to avoid the attacks from the other two. Once again, he took advantage of his air time to ready a new weapon. He let the sword drop and he reached into his pocket. He withdrew a small silver cylinder with an opening on each end. As his feet touched down he immediately crouched down and did a quick 360, whilst spraying some gas from one of the openings. As soon as his small circle was complete, as all three of his opponents were almost on top of him, he opened the other end, which released a small flame. A small flame near the extremely flammable gas, of course. A mini explosion followed, blowing the three former freedom fighters backwards, putting a safe distance between him and them. As they stood up, Taylor got ready to fight again, but Sally signalled a time out, so he relaxed and walked towards them. "So, what did you ladies think?"

They all were too busy panting to answer him immediately. The best he got was a quick thumbs up from Amy. Eventually, once they had caught their breaths, they managed to speak. Sally went first.

"I'm impressed. Those weapons you have there are like nothing I've seen before. Or at least, not since Eggman. You managed to hold us off just with those. You also have very good reaction times. Maybe not Sonic-level reactions, but still quick. If I had any criticism, it would probably be the time it takes for you to change weapons. While it worked against the three of us, a gap of that length when fighting against Sonic would be a fatal mistake. I assume you created these weapons yourself?" Taylor nodded. "Well, I'd try to develop a way to make the transition between weapons smoother and quicker. Talk to Rotor. I'm sure he'd be able to help."

"Thanks for the advice. I'll look into it.

The thoughts of Amy and Bunnie were much the same. Taylor took in all the helpful advice the girls gave him. He was prepared to hear Sally say that it was time to leave, but instead she said something else: "Well, we've seen your proficiency for weapons, but how well do you do in hand-to-hand combat?"

"Pretty well, if I do say so myself."

"Oh. Is that so? We'll see. Amy and Bunnie will just be observers this time around so it's just you and me. No weapons here. Just fists and feet. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. Then, in that case, let's get started."

* * *

In the corner of the training hall, there is a security camera. While Taylor, Sally, Amy and Bunnie were sparring, the camera was trained on them, or more specifically, on Taylor. The person on the other side of the camera was Cream. Ever since the call between Taylor and GUN, something had been troubling her. She was almost certain that she had seen Taylor before. She wasn't sure when or where, but there was something about him that seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place it. Hence why she was watching him. Maybe seeing him in action would refresh her memory.

* * *

Taylor and Sally were panting. They had been sparring for about ten minutes and the fight had been pretty close. Sally had managed to get some good swings in, but so had Taylor. Even so, it hadn't been an even fight. Taylor, all things considered, appeared to be the better fighter. He had landed more hits than Sally and he had blocked or dodged more of her attacks than she had of his. They sprinted towards each other. Sally swung high, aiming for his face, but he ducked low at the last second and swung his leg around, making Sally trip and fall. This fight was over. As Bunnie and Amy were clapping from the sidelines, Taylor stood over Sally and offered his hand to help her up.

"Well, Taylor, once again, I'm impressed. You definitely can hold your own in a fight. I'm happy to have you onboard."

"Thank you. So, what's our next move?"

"That's on a need-to-know basis, I'm afraid. Even though you're a skilled fighter, you are still a civilian. Of course, now that we are including you in this operation, we will have to tell you at some stage, but that won't be today. Sorry."

"No problem. I'll hang on to Cosmo's communicator if you need to reach me."

"Ok. We'll be in touch soon. Amy, would you mind accompanying Taylor outside?"

"Certainly, Sally. Come on, Taylor. Don't forget to grab your stuff."

"Gotcha. Look, Sally, thank you for this. Really."

"You are most welcome, Taylor."

And with that, Amy and Taylor gathered his equipment and left the hall, as Sally pulled out her phone.

* * *

Cream had been watching the fight through the security camera. And now that it was over, she was even more frustrated than before. That niggling glimmer of recognition was still there, but she still hadn't figured out where she knew Taylor from. It was right there, on the tip of her tongue, but the answer still wouldn't make itself known. Now she was determined to discover more about this fox, Taylor Reynard.

* * *

Amy and Taylor had made it to the main foyer when Amy's phone buzzed. It was a message from Sally. "Taylor, hang on a sec. Just got a message from Sal." They stopped. Amy read the message:

Don't think I didn't notice the way you were looking at him, Ames! 3

Her face went red almost instantly. Inside her head, she was screaming. She begged that Taylor wouldn't notice, which of course, he did. "Woah. She must have sent something interesting. Let's have a look." Before waiting for a response, Taylor took the phone and Amy was still too shocked to do anything to stop him. It didn't take long for a blush to appear on his face as well. "Oh, w-well, that is interesting…" He handed the phone back to Amy. "So, you were sneaking glances at yours truly, were ya?" She didn't respond. She just kept blushing.

"I'll take that as a yes. See anything you like?"

More silence. More blushing.

"Well, "Ames", I'll admit, I've always kinda had a thing for you, myself, even when I was merely a fan." This caught Amy's attention.

"Wha- really?!"

"Yeah. Always thought you were really kick-ass, especially with that hammer of yours."

Amy fell silent again.

"Listen, Amy, I'm pretty sure this is why Sally made you accompany me out, and I'm pretty sure your shift just ended, so why don't we take advantage of it and get out of here? I'll walk you home, if you want."

* * *

 **OOOH. What will Amy say? Well, you'll just have to wait until the next chapter! I'm evil, ending on a cliffhanger after such a long hiatus! Hehehehe! Also, I suck at writing fight scenes! Taylor's sword was inspired by Denki Kaminari (from My Hero Academia) who once said that he'd love to be able to wield a lightning sword, and the other weapon, which I still have to name, is basically the same as one of Hiccup's weapons from How to Train Your Dragon 2/ Dragons: Race to The Edge. Anyway, see you in the next chapter, whenever I decide to write it. Hopefully the next one will actually feature some Sonic! This is RDFAN7669, signing out. Bye bye!**


	14. Walking Home

GUN HQ was a pretty imposing building from up close, but neither Amy or Taylor cared about that as they walked away in the general direction of Amy's house. The night was cold, and the moon was almost at its peak. The sky was mostly cloudless, but neither of the Mobians noticed. They were too busy chatting to each other to learn more about each other.

"So, Taylor, how much training did you have to do to be able to fight like that?"

"Eight years. Started training when I was eleven, every Saturday."

"And the weapons? You don't learn that in a training room."

"Ah. I learnt that in my own time. I never went to school, I had a lot of free time."

"Wait, how are you so smart if you never went to school?"

"Like I said, I had a lot of free time. Most of that time was spent either training, designing/building those weapons, or in my local library."

"Well, that's some determination."

"What about you? What's your story?"

"Most of it is pretty well known from after I became a Freedom Fighter at eleven."

"And what about before that? How did you end up as a Freedom Fighter in the first place?"

"Sally found me in the forest. I had run from home after Eggman's forces attacked my village. That… was the last time I saw my parents…"

"Oh God. I'm sorry. I'm right there with you on that one. My parents suffered a very similar fate."

"Honestly, I guess that story would apply to a lot of people born during Eggman's reign. It's rotten, but that's the truth. I was nine. Sally and Sonic trained me for two years alongside Tai—" Amy stopped, and suddenly found it hard to speak. Or see through the tears. Taylor noticed.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Sorry, it's just that it's hard to talk about… Tails… Miles without thinking about how he…"

"Died." Taylor finished her sentence for her.

"Yeah." They both stopped walking.

Neither of them could think of the next thing to say. They both just stood there in silence. It was minutes before either of them said a word. It was Taylor who broke the silence.

"I was just a kid when that happened. The Day of Heroes' End. I remember watching Tails on the tv and pretending it was me. He was the fox who inspired me to get into all of the stuff I did. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for him. When I heard that he had died, it almost felt like I had died. Like I had been in that plane with him." It was Taylor's turn to get watery eyes. But, unlike Amy, who also had a serious case of the waterworks, he was able to remain composed enough to keep going.

"But, Amy, if he was here now, he'd be telling us not to be sad. He would want us to cherish our memories of his life, not mourn the memories of his death. He'd be telling us to remember him for who he was when he was alive: a hero. An inspiration. A… friend."

The two fell silent again. It wasn't as long a silence as the last one, and this time, it was Amy who broke it with two simple words.

"Thank you."

* * *

Sonic was anxious. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that something was off. Something wasn't perfect in his little world. For his last few fights, albeit very short-lived fights, he had left people standing. People who had defied him. That wasn't something he usually allowed. He was losing his touch. He needed to vent, so he decided to visit the only person who would listen: Amy. She was the only person who had even given him a second thought since he became this version of himself. He remembered the night he visited her after he had killed Knuckles. He remembered how she had listened to him, hugged him, laughed with him. He needed that right now. So, that's what he decided to do. He was going to visit Amy Rose.

* * *

Not many words had been said between Amy and Taylor for some time. They just kept walking in silence, tears refusing to fade from their eyes and blushes refusing to leave their cheeks. Every so often, one would steal a glance at the other, only to turn away when they thought they'd been spotted. They were only a couple of blocks away from Amy's house now. Just a few more streets to go, and then they'd be parting ways for the night. Taylor tried to break the silence once again, just to keep a conversation going.

"So, Amy, you definitely didn't have a robotic arm when you were still a Freedom Fighter. How'd that happen?"

"Take a guess."

"Courtesy of Sonic?"

"Bingo. Our paths crossed at the wreckage of the… Tornado. I was there paying my respects, as I usually do, only this time, he decided to drop in unannounced to do the same. I tried to get a message back to HQ, he noticed, and decided I didn't need this arm. I had to run through Mobotropolis to Rotor's workshop to get this."

"Wow. How the mighty has fallen, huh? It's hard to believe I used to look up to that guy. He used to be so cool. Used to be. I even had a poster of him in my old room."

"You think that's weird? I used to have a crush on him! Like you said, he was just so cool. I couldn't help it. Of course, nowadays, that ship has well and truly sailed." They both shared an overdue laugh as they rounded the final corner to her house.

"Well, this is me. What about you? Where's your place?"

"I have a small apartment in the city, on Elias Avenue. It's not much, but it'll do."

"Elias Avenue? That's on the other side of Mobotropolis! I wouldn't have made you walk this far if I'd known."

"You didn't make me do anything. I offered to walk you home, remember? It's really no bother."

"I can't let you walk to the other side of town at this time of night alone. Why don't you stay the night? I have a sofa-bed you could use."

"I really wouldn't wanna impose, Amy."

"Well, I'm not accepting no for an answer! Hurry up and get your foxy behind in here!"

"If you insist." They were both laughing as they entered, and they were still smiling as Amy closed the door behind them.

* * *

Sonic didn't even have the patience to run to Amy's house, so he teleported straight there, only to find it with no lights on, and no signs of life. Assuming she'd be in bed at this time, he decided to go to her bedroom, like last time. So that's what he did. As he materialised inside her bedroom, he was surprised to see her bed empty. She really wasn't home. "I wonder where she is? Maybe this was a bad idea. I should have gone to the grave. To speak to Tails. Amy was there at the graveyard. There's no way she'd want to speak to me after seeing that! I should go." He was about to teleport away when he heard something: footsteps and two voices approaching.

"Well, this is me. What about you? Where's your place?"

"I have a small apartment in the city, on Elias Avenue. It's not much, but it'll do."

He recognised one voice as Amy, but the other was a stranger to him. He didn't like that.

"Elias Avenue? That's on the other side of Mobotropolis! I wouldn't have made you walk this far if I'd known."

"You didn't make me do anything. I offered to walk you home, remember? It's really no bother."

So, was this a date then? Huh. Guess she really had moved on. It had been ten years, after all.

"I can't let you walk to the other side of town at this time of night alone. Why don't you stay the night? I have a sofa-bed you could use."

"I really wouldn't wanna impose, Amy."

"Well, I'm not accepting no for an answer! Hurry up and get your foxy behind in here!"

"If you insist."

Wait, he was a fox? He knew he shouldn't, but not he was curious. He knew for a fact that Amy hadn't made any new friends since Tails' death, and now she suddenly has a new boyfriend who just so happens to be a fox? Maybe sticking around wasn't such a bad idea.

* * *

Totally unaware of the guest upstairs, Amy went immediately to the kitchen.

"You drink tea, Taylor?"

"Yeah, if you're offering."

"It always feels nice to relax after a tough training session, especially when there's a cuppa involved, amirite?"

"You are most definitely right there!"

"Of course, this is honestly the most worn out I've been in ages after training. You really did a number on us."

"Well, I needed to impress you three if I wanted any opportunity of facing off against Sonic."

"Well, colour me impressed!" Amy entered the living room carrying two mugs. She handed one to Taylor, who blew it and took a sip, before practically falling onto the sofa beside him.

"Not many people are able to hold off Bunnie, let alone all three of us at once. The only one who even managed to hit you was Sally!"

"Hehe, guess I'm just talented." Amy responded with a friendly elbow to the ribs and a laugh of her own. "Do you think I'm good enough to face Sonic?" This was when the laughter stopped.

"Maybe. If he stayed in his standard form, maybe. But, I don't think I've seen this Sonic fight without going into one of his powered up forms, and that's when you'd be in trouble. He's almost unstoppable in his Pure Dark form. At your current level, you wouldn't stand a chance on your own."

"Guess I'll need to keep training then."

"Guess so." There was a brief moment of silence before Amy spoke up again.

"Hey, about what you said before, about Tails. Thank you. I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome, Amy. It was nice to get it off my chest, too."

They kept talking for a while, about good things and bad things and everything in between. Eventually, the mugs were empty and it was getting late. Time to get to bed. Amy moved to get up, but before she managed to stand, Taylor stopped her.

"Hey, Amy, I know we just met, but I think Sally might have been on to something."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I like you. At first, I just thought you were cute, but after all of our talking tonight, I realise you're so much more than that. I think I want to take this further than just being friends, or acquaintances from work. If you'll allow me, I'd like to ask you out officially."

Amy's face was no longer visible under the blush. "Taylor… I feel the same way. Sally was right. I was stealing glances at you in the training room. Heck, I even thought you were attractive when you first contacted us! But now I feel like I know you, not just how you look, and it appears to me that your so much more attractive on the inside as well. So, yes, I will go out with you, Taylor. See where it goes." The two leaned in, tilting their heads and closing their eyes as they did, until their lips made contact.

Fireworks.

They stayed connected as Taylor pushed Amy over until she was lying on the sofa, and they stayed connected even after she was down. Anyone with half a mind could see where this was going. Eventually they broke for breath. "Hey, easy boy. Not here. Let's take this to my room instead. Forget the sofa-bed." Taylor smirked as he stood up and picked Amy up, bridal style, and began his ascent upstairs.

* * *

And Sonic, realising he wasn't gonna get any more intel here, teleported away without a trace.

* * *

 **OOOH SAUCY! I'm such a naughty boy, aren't I? Hehehehe. Of course, if I want to keep this story's T rating, I'm going to have to exclude the bedroom fun from this story. Sorry. If anyone wants to see me write that scene, I may share it as a standalone/one-shot story once this one is finished, but we'll just have to see.**

 **Speaking of chapters, WHAT'S GOING ON?! It's only been a day since the last update! I'm never this quick. Consider it part one of an early Christmas present! And now, for the bad news. I feel like this story might be coming to an end soon, after a few more chapters at least. I have a few stories that I'm thinking of right now, so hopefully there won't be too big of a gap between the end of this story and the start of the next one. I have seen a lot of writers on here fill their schedules with multiple ongoing stories at a time, but I won't be doing that. If any of you guys have any ideas of stories you'd like me to try in the future, PM me and I'll see if I can work with it. See you in the next chapter, guys.**

 **RDFAN7669**


	15. Closing In

Sunlight streamed through the blinds of Amy's bedroom. She woke up with a stretch to see a sleeping fox lying beside her. Her fox. Instead of getting up, she wanted to stick around under the covers a little longer. So that's what she did. She slid closer to Taylor until she was snuggling close to him, her head resting in his chest fur, and decided to nap for a little while longer.

Half an hour passed before it was Taylor's turn to wake. His chest felt a little heavier than usual, so he looked down and saw Amy lying there, smiling up at him. "Morning, handsome."

"Morning."

"Sleep well?"

"Like a log. You?"

"Honestly, best sleep I've had in a while!"

"Good to hear."

"Anyway, I usually go for a morning walk when I don't have to be in GUN. Would you like to join me?"

"I thought you had to be in GUN every day."

"Usually, but, as were currently in the planning stages of our next Counter-Sonic Strategy, the timetable's a little more flexible than usual. I don't have to go in today, unless I get called in."

"Sounds fair enough. I'd love to join you for a walk, but we should probably get dressed first."

Amy blushed. She had honestly forgotten that they were both naked after the last night's… activities. "Yeah. We probably should. You can use the bathroom if you want. First door on the left."

"Thanks." Taylor then proceeded to get out of Amy's bed and gathered his clothes (which were scattered around the floor), as Amy just sat, exposed, in the bed, watching him. Even though she lived in a community where lots of males, and some females, choose to go without clothes, Amy found herself captivated by his form, as if it was her first time seeing a male with no clothes on. She wasn't really focusing on how he looked sans clothing last night, so this was her first proper look. He was toned, with the faint outline of a six pack just barely visible through his thick, white chest fur. He wasn't super muscular, but she certainly didn't care about that. That big, bushy tail of his wasn't anything new, since that was always on display anyway. Amy was more interested in what it was connected to, but by the time she had gotten around to checking his posterior, he had finally gathered his clothes and was making his way out to the bathroom. It wasn't until she heard the click of a locking door when she flopped back in her bed and sighed.

Her phone pinged.

Sally.

'Crap. Does this mean I'm being called in after all?' She opened the message:

Sally: Soooooo, how'd it go with Taylor? ;)

Amy breathed a sigh of relief. Not a summons then. She fired back a response:

Amy: You are evil, Sally Acorn! XD

S: Oooh, now I'm interested! Hold on, let me get Bunnie in here.

*Bunnie Rabbot has joined the conversation*

Bunnie: What is it, Sally?

S: Amy was just about to tell us how last night went with Taylor.

B: Ohoh, is that right? Well, don't let me stop you, girl!

A: I hate you, Acorn.

S: Hehehehe. Come on, we want details!

A: Fine, fine. All we did was talk.

B: Well, that's boring. C'mon, we know you've got something juicy to tell us.

A: Whaaaat? It's true! We just talked.

S: Aaaand? You know we won't stop until you tell us what really happened, right?

A: AAARGH FINE! We… may have done a bit more than talk…

B: Go on.

A: …and our interactions got a bit… "heated".

S: Uh huh. Keep going.

A: WE HAD SEX, ALRIGHT!

S: Whaaa- really?!

B: Attagirl!

S: So, are you two dating now then?

A: Yes.

S: CALLED IT!

B: Congrats, Ames!

A: Can I go now? I still need to get dressed.

S: Yes, yes. I got what I wanted. My work here is done!

*Sally Acorn has left the conversation*

B: Seriously, congratulations, Amy. I'm happy for you two. Tell Taylor I said howdy!

*Bunnie Rabbot has left the conversation*

*Amy Rose has left the conversation*

By the end of all that, Amy's face was about as red as her old dress was. She put her phone down and started getting ready herself.

* * *

Inside GUN HQ, specifically the medical centre, Shadow was asleep. He may have been the Ultimate Life Form, but he even would struggle to recover from injuries sustained in a fight against an angry Pure Dark Sonic. It had already been a few days since the battle, but for Shadow, it felt like forever. Most injuries he sustained in battle, unless he exhausted all of his Chaos Energy, would be dealt with in one day at the most. This had been hell for him. Thankfully, the doctor had given him the all-clear last night, saying that he was good to go, but he suggested the hedgehog stayed in the medical centre for one more night, to be sure.

He heard the door open. He had a visitor. He opened his eyes to see Cream standing in front of him.

"Cream. What a surprise."

"I'm just gonna cut to the chase, Shadow. I want you to track someone."

"And since when did I take orders from you?"

"This isn't an order. Merely a request. Apart from me and Rouge, you're the best agent at GUN for stealth ops. But, of course, Rouge is busy with the latest CSS, and I couldn't really be bothered, so you're the best option."

"Fine. Who exactly would I be tracking if I accept?

"Taylor Reynard. He's a red fox, nineteen years old, and he's a civilian that Sally brought in to help fight Sonic."

"Is that so? Then, if he's apparently on our side, then why would I be tracking him?"

"It's just something about him. I'm just not sure I can trust him. Something's off, and you are my best option to help me find out exactly what that is."

"So, you come in here, wake me from a nap, and tell me to track down a random, nineteen-year-old fox, because of a damn hunch? Am I getting that right?"

"You're the only person I can ask. Besides, apparently, according to Rabbot, he's dating Amy now. If I went to Rouge or Sally, they'd either tell Amy or risk losing her as a friend if she catches them."

"Ugh, fine. What intel you got on him?"

"He's an experienced fighter, with and without weapons. Weapons that he built himself, I might add. He has a small apartment at 7342 Elias Avenue, 6th floor, Room 6a. That's all I got, except for his current location. He spent the night at Amy's. I'd probably take this opportunity while he's not at home to search his place, so I'll go over there and search and you go towards Amy's place and track him."

"Alright, let me stop you there. If I'm gonna help you do this, we're doing it my way. You track the fox down, I'll search his apartment. Call me on the comms only if you need to. Chaos Control." Before Cream even had a chance to argue, he had vanished.

* * *

It hadn't taken very long for Amy or Taylor to get ready, so by now, they were well on their way on their walk. They were heading out of town, just chatting as they were the night before.

"So, Ames, where are we going, exactly?"

"The graveyard where Tails is buried."

Taylor froze. Amy noticed.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Last time you went there, Sonic killed an entire team of GUN agents."

"True, but you know who he didn't kill? Me."

"I know, but I don't want you to risk losing another arm…"

"I'll be fine. Now come on. I wanna introduce you to Tails."

Amy turned around and continued walking. Taylor bowed his head, his expression unreadable, before reluctantly doing the same. And, unbeknownst to either of them, Cream was right above them, flying silently with her ears.

"Gotcha."

* * *

Elias Avenue, a road named after Sally's deceased older brother, was just like any other urban street: lined on either side with massive skyscrapers and office buildings, with shops, apartments and restaurants everywhere you looked. The building at number 7342 was nothing special. It was an old apartment building, wedged between a department store and an office building. Needless to say, some of the pedestrians nearby were a little startled when suddenly, a black hedgehog materialised there in front of it. He didn't even acknowledge anyone as he went inside.

* * *

Taylor and Amy had made it to the cemetery. Certainly, it looked a lot better than it did after Amy's last visit. Through a generous donation from Sally, most of the graves that were destroyed during Sonic's attack had been replaced with brand new ones, each with a fresh bouquet of flowers resting on each gravestone. Another new addition was a special section in the far corner, specifically for the victims of that massacre. Amy made a beeline to the grave that housed her friend, and Taylor followed along behind her. Of course, Tails' grave was one of the few left intact, so his still looked as old as it was. Even though the body in the grave was one of the smallest bodies in the graveyard, the gravestone itself was in fact one of the grandest. Sonic had made sure of it. He hadn't gone full-on villain mode by that stage, but even by then he was too far gone to be considered a hero either. A lot of people had said that getting this grave for Tails was the final act of Sonic the Hero. The final act of kindness performed by a hedgehog gone mad. The grave stone read:

Here Lies Miles "Tails" Prower

3225-3234

A friend and a hero

Taken from us too soon

"Hey Tails, it's me. Just wanted to talk to you. It feels like a lot has happened since I last got the chance. But, I don't wanna bother you with the bad stuff today. I have someone I'd like you to meet." She beckoned him over. "His name's Taylor and he's a fox, like you. He's my new boyfriend, so I just knew I had to introduce you."

"Oh oh, don't forget the part where he's apparently strong enough to beat me in a fight!" The couple froze.

They knew that voice.

Sonic.

* * *

 **And another chapter, up and over! You all might be pleased to know that right now, I'm running out of distractions, so chapters might be more frequent from here on out. As I said in the previous chapter, this story will be reaching its conclusion soon. If we keep going at this rate, it could even be finished by any time between the end of this week and Christmas. Anyway, that's then, this is now.**

 **There are a couple of things I'd like to clarify about this chapter. First, the building number of Taylor's apartment is a subtle reference to SEGA (if you type 7342 into mobile keypad, you'd be able to spell out the word SEGA using the letters appearing on each number). And the years on Tails' grave are according to Tails' canon birth year in the Archie Comics. I may not be sticking perfectly to canon here (for obvious reasons) but I wanted to include that. That would mean that this story takes place in 3244. Finally, recalling something I mentioned in the previous chapter's A/N, the scene that was missing between these two chapters: the sex scene. Is that something you would like me to write and post separately? I excluded it here because, as said before, I want this story to keep its T rating. I won't write it if you don't want it, so if you want it, let me know through PMs, as well as any other story ideas you may have that you'd like to see me write in the future.**

 **One last thing before I go (long A/N is long), with regards to cover art. I mentioned this briefly in the Brief AN chapter I posted yesterday (which I will likely be deleting when I upload this chapter) after Chapter 14, but if anyone here is an artist or knows an artist who would be willing to do cover art for this story, PM me about it and I'll be in touch.**

 **Anyway, that's all for now. See you in the next one. RDFAN7669**


	16. Battle

"So, you must be Taylor. I've heard that you want to fight me. Well, no time like the present, eh?"

"And how did you hear all that?

"You two certainly talked a lot before you went upstairs to make the bedsprings squeak."

"You were spying on us?"

"I was paying you a visit, Amy. Just wanted to say hello, but you were otherwise engaged with your little foxy boyfriend here. So, what do you say, Tay-Tay? Shall we?"

Taylor looked at Amy, and she stared right back. Tears were welling in her eyes, and she shook her head. He mouthed the words "I have to" right back to her. He turned back to Sonic. "You're on. Shall we keep it fair? No super forms?"

"Usually, I only fight when I'm cross, but this fight is a little different. Sure, I'll stay powered down for this one. Unless you make me angry, of course."

"Let's get started then."

* * *

Sally was in her office at GUN HQ when the alarms started blaring. She vaulted over her desk in an instant, joining the mass of other agents in the hallway, all running towards the main conference room. As soon as they all entered the hall, they all got a severe sense of déjà vu. There was a message on the screen. Just four words. The same four words that lead to one of the biggest massacres in GUN history: SONIC SIGHTED. TAILS' GRAVE. Chills ran up Sally's spine. It was happening again. "Somebody contact Rotor!"

"No need, Princess. I'm already here."

"And what of your device?"

"MTP-Bot isn't ready yet. It's still charging, and it won't be fully charged for another couple of hours."

"If we sent it in now, how long would it be able to fight?"

"The battery life is not the problem. The problem is the effectiveness of its weapons. Without a full charge, its weapons would only be around 50% as strong as they would be at full power. If the weapons went higher than that, then the battery would drain too fast, and the weapons would lose all functionality. I'm sorry, but we can't send him in now."

"Ok. What about Amy and Taylor? We need to call them in. Or Cream?"

Another agent spoke up.

"Cream was the one who sent the message. She's already there. As for Taylor and Amy, their positions are unknown."

"I'll call them in myself."

* * *

Sonic and Taylor were preparing to fight when Amy's communicator started beeping. It was Sally.

"Sally, what is it?"

"Sonic's been sighted at the graveyard. We need you and Taylor to come in now."

"Afraid it's a bit late for that. Taylor and I are at the graveyard already. They're going to fight! We need backup NOW!"

"We're on our way, but the MTP isn't ready. We'd basically be repeating the same situation as last time, but we'll send as many agents as we can. Over and out."

"So, we'd better get this over with quickly then, foxy." Sonic smirked as he got into a fighting stance. Taylor did the same. And then the fight began as they both charged.

* * *

Shadow had made it to Room 6a. He needed to make sure nobody saw him breaking in, so he had made sure that nobody was around. He couldn't use Chaos Control to get in because he had never been inside the room before, and the basic rules of the teleportation ability that Chaos Control allowed dictated that you could only teleport to places you could visualise, places you had been. Of course, teleportation wasn't the only aspect of Chaos Control. You could also use it to stop time, so that was how he used it here, and once it was frozen he took the opportunity and broke in.

* * *

Taylor and Sonic were exchanging blows. As it was when he was training against Sally, so far it had been pretty even. Each side had exchanged blows, but this time Taylor was on the losing side. Even though Sonic was still in his standard form, he still had the advantage of some low-level chaos attacks. Of course, Taylor was holding his own. His quick reflexes paid off most of the time. And, when Sonic's attacks did hit, most of them were small hits, so he could shrug most of them off. Of course, holding your own wasn't the same as winning, and Taylor knew that if he wanted any chance of beating him, he'd need to think outside the box. Of course, Taylor could use the small weapon he had brought with him, but he was almost certain that if he used it, Sonic would be cross and go Dark, but, he couldn't think of any other way. He had left the sword at home, but his other weapon, the one which caused an explosive ring, was currently tucked away in one of his pockets. It was all he could think of, so all he needed was a distraction.

And it started to rain. And Sonic looked up. "Well, isn't this fitting weather for a fight?" In the brief moment of distraction, Taylor grabbed the silver cylinder from his pocket, and in an instant, he released the gas and ran at Sonic. "Really? You thought I would be so distracted by a little drizzle that I wouldn't notice you charging at me?"

"It wouldn't matter if you noticed me!" Taylor managed to duck under a right hook from Sonic, just as the gas cloud made it to the hedgehog's feet.

"You're quick, I'll give you that." Sonic didn't notice the gas.

At least, he didn't notice until Taylor ignited the spark. The explosion caused Sonic to fly up around six feet into the air, as Taylor rolled out of the way. The hedgehog came down hard, and landed on his back.

"Ok, you've really gone and done it now. All bets are off!" And then he went Dark.

"Taylor, just run! RUN!"

"I don't think he'll let me, Ames. If I want to survive, I'll have to keep fighting. Call Sally, tell her to bring my sword. I left it at yours."

"Got it."

"So," Sonic's voice had deepened, "that's how you wanna play?"

Suddenly, in the midst of the rain, which had increased in intensity, Sonic disappeared with a click of his fingers, and reappeared behind Taylor. But, unlike any other before him, Taylor had anticipated this and managed to predict and dodge the attack of the superpowered hedgehog. The surprise of this move caught Sonic off-guard. Nobody had ever dodged that move of his before. He was so confused that Taylor was able to pull of something else that nobody before him had done: he managed to land a hit on Dark Sonic. Not even the Ultimate Life Form had managed that. But, here he was, just this random fox, and he had done what should have been impossible. For the second time in one fight, Sonic was on the ground.

"Hey, Taylor, Sally's got your sword. She says she's on her way with reinforcements. About five minutes out."

"Gotcha."

Sonic stood up and turned again to face Taylor again.

"Well, fox, you are persistent. But, this has gone on long enough." Sonic started glowing.

"Taylor, this is bad. Seriously, RUN! PLEASE!"

"No, Amy. I can't. As he said, this has gone on long enough. Besides the reinforcements are almost here. If I can just hold out for a little longer, we might be able to win this."

"I think not, fox! Chaos Spear!" Once again, Taylor was back on the defensive, jumping and dodging as the angered hedgehog launched a hailstorm of Chaos Spears his way. It was all he could do to keep avoiding. He couldn't even get close enough to attack. Amazingly, he somehow managed to dodge each and every one, so Sonic decided to try another approach. He disappeared, and reappeared behind Amy. "Stand down, fox. Or your girlfriend gets it." This got Taylor's attention immediately. "I really didn't want to have to resort to this, and I really don't want to hurt Amy, but I've had enough. This. Ends. NOW!"

"Yes, Sonic. You're absolutely right." This was a new voice. Sally Acorn had arrived.

And, nobody had even noticed that Taylor's fur was changing colour.

* * *

Room 6a on the 6th floor of 7342 Elias Avenue was a pretty basic apartment. It had a sofa and a tv, a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom. Purely average. Shadow looked around, somewhat unimpressed. "Is that it? I came all the way out here for this? Well, now that I'm here, I might as well look around." The living room had nothing special. Taylor didn't even own a single DVD. Instead, there was a small bookshelf in the corner, with books about mechanics and martial arts (among other things). There was a biography of the Freedom Fighters and their fight against Eggman as well, but that wasn't on the shelf. Shadow found that on the sofa. The kitchen was a similar story: there wasn't really anything interesting in there. Then Shadow got to the bedroom.

A normal sized bed, with a wardrobe on one side and a chest of drawers on the other. Again, nothing too out of the ordinary. In the wardrobe, once again it was pretty much what would be expected: a selection of clothes for various conditions, from t-shirts and shorts to winter coats and scarves. It was the content of the chest of drawers the got Shadow's interest. There were only three drawers. In the top drawer, Shadow found some blueprints. Specifically, he found blueprints for what appeared to be a sword which coated itself in electricity at the push of a button. Printed at the top of the blueprint was the name of this sword. Taylor had called it Amadeus. There was another set of blueprints as well, but Shadow didn't study them. He didn't need to.

The second drawer contained some small, red canisters. Each one was identical. Shadow picked one up to examine it. The label read "Fur Dye: Red". Now, this was interesting. Now, Shadow wasn't one to judge. It was much more unusual to find a hedgehog with red stripes in his fur than a fox who had his fur dyed. But, that meant that Taylor dyed his fur red, which meant it wasn't his natural colour. But, again, that wasn't too abnormal. Lots of Mobians dyed their fur, either to fit in or stand out. So, Shadow decided to examine the contents of the bottom drawer.

Inside, he found a photo album. He looked inside. And almost instantly dropped it to the floor. He knew who Taylor was.

* * *

Back at the graveyard, things were still at a stalemate. Even though Sally and the GUN reinforcements had arrived, Taylor and Sonic just stood there, staring each other down. Sonic was right behind Amy, ready to attack if Taylor made the wrong move. Taylor was just standing there, not in a fighting stance or a defensive one. He was just standing. Then the silence was broken.

"Let her go, Sonic."

"Or what? You'll attack me with your little explosive toy?"

"No. If you don't let her go, I won't do anything. Because, you and I both know you won't kill her."

"Oh really? And how do you know that?"

"Because I know you, Sonic."

"Do you really? Then you also must know that I can attack you from here." Without warning, Sonic launched a supersized Chaos Spear towards Taylor.

"Taylor, NO!"

However, what happened next shocked all in attendance. Taylor, a fox who had shown up out of nowhere, whose fur had definitely been redder at the start of the fight, unfurled his second tail.

And he flew.

* * *

 **Betcha didn't see that one coming!**

 **That's all I'm gonna say.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**

 **RDFAN7669**


	17. Tails

It was as if the world had stopped. Nobody could say a word.

Not even one.

The only sound that could be heard was the sound of metal hitting dirt as Sally dropped Taylor's sword.

What they were looking at was impossible. Who they were looking at was impossible. It had been ten years since they had last seen him, but it was definitely him.

Miles "Tails" Prower, all grown up.

Sonic powered down instantly, as Amy fell to her knees. Taylor… Tails hovered back down to ground level. His fur dye had been washed completely off now. But nobody cared what colour his fur was. They were all too busy staring at the two tails.

Sonic was the first to speak.

"T-Tails? You're Tails?"

"Yes."

"HOW? HOW CAN YOU BE TAILS?! I SAW HIM DIE IN A PLANE CRASH! TEN YEARS AGO!"

"Yes, you did. But the Tails in that plane wasn't me. That was a clone."

"A clone?"

"Yes."

Sonic was silent for a moment. "….why?"

Now it was Tails' turn to shout.

"It was because of you, idiot! I was tired of playing second fiddle to you! You kept getting all of the praise, all of the glory, but to the rest of the world, I was just a sidekick! No matter what I did, you got all the spotlight. Even when you weren't involved, it was always 'Tails, the plucky sidekick of Sonic'! It was as if nothing I did mattered to the rest of the world, as if I only did the things I did to make you look better. 'Sonic's got such a cool sidekick', 'Wow, Sonic must be amazing if his sidekick is this cool', or more commonly, 'Sonic is so kind, letting this mutant work with him'! That's what people thought of me, you know: mutant, freak, monster. They never dared say it when you were around, but when I was alone, I heard the whispers. Everywhere I went. I couldn't escape. I had to… so I contacted Eggman and told him to shoot my plane down the next time you and him fought. You…. know the rest."

The cemetery fell back into silence. Nobody dared utter a word. Tails sighed, and wrapped his tails together again to make one.

"I don't want people to know I'm alive. Not yet. So, please don't mention this to the public."

Deafening silence answered back.

"And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry." Tails walked out of the cemetery, once again looking like a regular fox.

Nobody even tried to stop him.

* * *

Back at Elias Avenue, Shadow was still in shock. In that photo album he had found, there were pictures of Sonic, Sally, Amy… and Tails. It had clicked for him. Taylor was Tails. And it made sense.

He was sure this was what Cream had been suspicious about, so he called her on the comms.

"Cream, I've got something big! Taylor is Tails!"

"Yeah… I know."

"Wha- how?"

"Put simply, he blew his own cover, and unfurled his two tails in front of us."

"Us?"

"Sonic, Amy, me and a squad of GUN agents, including Sally."

"Wait, Sonic's there?! Hold on, I'm on my way."

"There's no need. Tails has gone and Sonic has stopped fighting. Look, Shadow, this is a lot to process. I've gotta go…"

* * *

Even though Tails had left the cemetery, everyone else was still silent. Sonic stood like a statue, staring at the spot where Tails used to be. His mind was racing. He reflected on all of the things he had done since that day ten years ago. All the things that he couldn't take back… like Knuckles. All the things he had done to hurt his old friends. All because Tails had died. And now, Tails was alive, and everything he had done had been pointless.

Knuckles died for no reason.

The Chaotix died for no reason.

He had gone insane and evil for no reason.

Realising all of this, he fell to the ground and wept.

Amy was in a similar state of shock, although her reasons for being in such a state were a little bit different. Her new boyfriend had just revealed himself to be one of her oldest friends, who she thought had been dead for ten years. She was shocked she hadn't seen the signs, to be honest: a skilled inventor, the initial communication from inside the Blue Typhoon, the flying fortress that only Tails knew the location of, everything. It explained how he knew so much about the Freedom Fighters, about Sonic.

About her.

She couldn't take it anymore. And, as Sonic collapsed into a sobbing heap on the ground, Amy turned and ran.

* * *

Tails was in no hurry to get anywhere. He just knew he couldn't stay here. He'd go back to the apartment, gather some things and head to Knothole. Since the Freedom Fighters disbanded, Knothole Village had been left abandoned, so now it was the perfect place to go for someone who didn't want to be found. Although before he had even made it as far as the outskirts of Mobotropolis, he heard footsteps approaching behind him. And a voice.

Amy.

"Taylor! TAYLOR!" Well, he was thankful that she respected his wishes. He turned around to face her. "Am-"

She slapped him hard in the face.

"YOU JERK! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I'D LET YOU WALK AWAY FROM THAT WITHOUT GIVING ME A PROPER EXPLANATION?!" Tails was silent. He guessed he deserved this.

"Fine. I'll explain everything."

"Then start talking!"

"Not here. As I said in the graveyard, I don't want the rest of the world to know I'm alive, and I'd rather not risk people overhearing."

"Fine. We're close to my house." Without another word, she started walking.

Tails followed close behind.

After a few minutes of complete silence, they were back at Amy's house. Amy, still in silence, opened the door and went inside, not even bothering to hold it for the fox. He went inside and shut the door behind him.

"So, we're here, so get talking."

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

"No, not as Taylor. Talk to me as Tails." Tails knew what that meant and unwrapped his tails once more.

"So, I heard the reasons you gave Sonic about why you did what you did, but you never mentioned why you thought that was what was best."

"Amy, please understand that I had been faced with ridicule my whole life. Even my own parents didn't want me. Eight years of being called a freak, a monster, a demon makes you want to escape, no matter what. It wasn't the best option, but it was the only option."

"Bullcrap! Did you honestly think that we wouldn't protect you? We were your friends, Tails. We were your family!"

"Yeah, but you weren't there all the time! There were times I was alone, with nobody to protect me. People threw stones, yelled obscenities, kicked dirt in my face. I was even attacked. Complete strangers attacking an eight-year-old child because of what was basically a disability! And don't think I have forgotten the way you looked at me when we first met." Now it was Amy's turn to fall silent.

"It had gotten too much, so I had to find a way to escape it all, and the only way I could think of was for Miles 'Tails' Prower to die. Honestly, the only person who truly respected me was Eggman. You lot in the Freedom Fighters liked me, but you all took me for granted. You only invited me on missions so I could be tech support, and then you all went off to fight, while I was stuck watching from the sidelines. Eggman was the only person who bothered to look past the exterior. He saw me as an equal, someone just as creative and mechanically talented as him. Even Rotor only saw me as his lab assistant. That's why Eggman agreed to help me. Heck he even wished me luck with my new life! Then the fight at Angel Island happened. An opportunity. I cloned myself and sent the clone in the plane. The clone acted just as I would have, swooping in to save Knuckles in the Tornado, and entering range of Eggman's missiles. You know what happened then." Still, she remained silent, so Tails continued.

"The Day of Heroes' End. The day Miles 'Tails' Prower died and the day Taylor Reynard was born."

Amy finally raised her head once more to look at Tails again. Her eyes were watering.

"So, everything we had was a lie? That whole speech about how you looked up to Tails, the speech that made me fall for you, none of it was real?"

"The words weren't real, but the message was. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for Miles 'Tails' Prower. Amy, I still love you, as Taylor and as Tails, and I want to be with you. I know it's going to be hard to forgive me for any of this, but I mean it when I say I am truly sorry."

"Tails, I want to be with you too, but honestly, I'm not sure if I can anymore. I didn't fall in love with you. I fell in love with Taylor."

"Amy, even though I was lying about who I was as Taylor, my feelings were real. Are real. I'm still the fox you fell in love with, even though I'm not who you thought I was. Taylor's life is my life. And I want to spend it with you. As Taylor and as Tails. Honestly, I had a crush on you even when I was eight." For the first time in the conversation, Amy smiled.

"So did I." Tails let out a small chuckle. And suddenly, the tension was gone.

"Really? I thought you were going after Sonic back then?"

"I was. You were the backup plan."

"Pfft, charming!"

"You asked."

"So, are we ok?" Amy was silent again momentarily.

"No, we're not." Tails hung his head in shame. Amy continued.

"But, we'll have time to work it out."

* * *

 **Apologies for this chapter's lack of action, but it had to be done. And, to be quite honest, this was a really difficult chapter to write! So, Taylor is Tails. Who was surprised? I had been sprinkling subtle hints throughout the chapters in which Taylor appeared about his true identity. And don't worry. MTP-Bot will make another appearance. But that will have to wait. There probably won't be a new chapter tomorrow, but keep your eyes peeled because the next chapter will definitely be up before the end of the week. I do have one request: Please do not spoil this plot twist in the reviews. If you want to discuss it with me, PM me about it. See you in the next chapter, everyone! RDFAN7669**


	18. Aftermath

GUN HQ, Meeting Room 1. In a word: chaos. The room was filled with agents in the squad, except for Amy who hadn't returned to HQ after running away from the graveyard, who had been in the graveyard when Tails revealed himself. They had all reacted in various ways. Some were angry, saying that if Tails had revealed himself sooner, or if he hadn't faked his own death in the first place, the troubles and heartaches of the past ten years, including the extinction of the echidnas and the death of the Chaotix, could have been avoided. Some were sad and confused, constantly asking why Tails would have ever wanted to do this in the first place. Some felt guilty because they had looked down on Tails in the past which is apparently what drove him to doing what he did.

Of course, there were some in the room who had been affected more than others.

Sally, Tails' adoptive "aunt", didn't know how to feel. If Tails hadn't made everyone think he was dead, she likely would have been married to the hero Sonic at this point, maybe even had children of her own, and the last ten years could have been so much more peaceful for her and her kingdom. But, at the same time, Tails was alive! He was alive and she couldn't be happier.

Cream was in a similar predicament. She was angry at Tails for making her believe her best childhood friend had been dead for a decade, she was angrier at Sonic for doing all the stupid things that he had done, and, similar to Sally, she was just so happy to see Tails again that it almost seemed that none of it even mattered. Almost. Of course, she knew that if things hadn't gone the way they had gone, she wouldn't be an agent at all. She only became one because Mobius needed a hero and clearly Sonic wasn't able to fill that post any more. If Sonic hadn't become the villain, then Mobius wouldn't have needed her to become that hero and she might have stayed as open and friendly as she once had been.

Of course, the worst affected person had been Sonic himself. Ever since he broke down in the graveyard, he had been practically unresponsive, truly an empty husk. He displayed no emotion as the GUN agents who were quick to get over the shock had restrained him, nor when they had escorted him back to GUN HQ where he was placed in one of their holding cells. The GUN HQ had a holding cell similar to one they had on Prison Island back in Station Square: in the basement, surrounded by a gigantic tank of water, a glass box, suspended by chains, with only one way in, which was a retractable tunnel. Even if he managed to escape the cell itself, everyone knew Sonic's weakness was water.

Of course, nobody had really noticed that, during the journey to that cell, his fur had been gradually darkening.

The more he thought about Tails, the angrier he became. Not just at Tails, but at everyone. If people hadn't mocked him, insulted him, attacked him, Tails wouldn't have felt the need to fake his own death. But, if Tails hadn't faked his own death, then Sonic would have still been the hero. Honestly, the tiny sliver of sanity that the hedgehog had left missed those days, when Sonic the Hedgehog could run through the streets and people would cheer as he passed. But, his mind kept fluctuating.

If Tails hadn't faked his own death, then Sonic wouldn't have ever been angry enough to kill Eggman and finally defeat him.

If Tails hadn't faked his own death, then Knuckles, Tikal and the Chaotix would also still be alive, Amy would still have both arms, and Sally would still love him. Rouge and Knuckles were engaged and now, that union would never happen, for no reason, it seems. He had turned Rouge from Knuckles' girlfriend to his fiancée to his widow in one moment. FOR. NO. BLOODY. REASON.

If Tails hadn't faked his own death, then Sonic would have never unlocked any of these new forms, all of which were more powerful than any of the forms he had ever used before.

If Tails hadn't faked his own death, then Sonic wouldn't hate himself so much right now.

If Tails hadn't faked his own death, then Sonic wouldn't hate him so much right now.

* * *

Meanwhile, at 7342 Elias Avenue, Room 6a, Tails had just arrived home. Amy and him were still together, but after they had finished their conversation, Amy had sent him home, saying that she wasn't ready to have him stay the night in her house. He turned the key in his lock.

Nothing happened.

The door was already open.

He cautiously opened it, and unpacked his sword.

Shadow was there.

"Welcome home, Tails."

"Shadow?! What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"

"Cream sent me. She thought you were hiding something. Guess she was right about that."

Tails set down the sword, and shut the door behind him.

"Guess she was. Then, I guess she knows too?"

"Didn't you see her at the cemetery? She knows alright."

"Fantastic. Look, I'm also pretty sure you understand that I don't really want this getting out. So, if you don't mind, it's Taylor. I don't care if the whole damn world knows that I dye my fur, but Tails died ten years ago and for now, I'd like to keep it that way."

"Fine, I can keep a secret. Not quite as sure about the rest of the GUN agents, or Sonic, but I won't say a word to anyone not already in the loop. But, you can't keep hiding forever. Eventually, you or someone else will let something slip, and the eyes of the world will turn on you in an instant. Be prepared for that." With that, Shadow clicked his fingers and he was gone.

* * *

Amy was also a bit shaken by this whole ordeal. And understandably so. It's not every day you find out that your new boyfriend who you had only just met was actually an old childhood friend you thought had been dead for ten years. Like Sally, Amy was ecstatic that Tails was alive. As she had told him, even though Sonic had been her obvious crush in those days ten years ago, she had always had similar feelings for Tails, just not quite as extreme. However, in the same breath, whenever her memories went back to the previous night, she became mortified and embarrassed that she had done those things with Tails, because she would always picture Tails as he was at eight. She shared a lot of her feelings with the others: anger at Tails, anger at Sonic, sorrow for them both. She was sure that villain Sonic was a consequence that Tails hadn't thought of, and how badly his escape plan had backfired. But, she could only imagine how awful Sonic must feel now. He had blamed Eggman and Knuckles for Tails' death, but it turns out that Tails never actually died, so they died for absolutely no reason. No wonder the last thing she heard as she left the graveyard was Sonic screaming. Honestly, all of these conflicting thoughts and emotions were making Amy feel ill.

Then she really felt ill. So, she ran to her bathroom.

And vomited in the toilet.

Then she went pale. And not because of the nausea. Once again, her memories went back to the previous night. In all of their… excitement, they had forgotten something important. Something very, very important.

She needed to be sure. She had to be.

Minutes later, she was.

Amy Rose was pregnant.

* * *

 **Huh. Excluding this A/N, this chapter is exactly 1,300 words long. Cool. Anyway, sorry for the short delay everyone (as well as the slightly shorter chapter than usual). I have been having some pretty major internet problems as of late, so I needed to wait for things to settle down a bit before trying to upload the next chapter. We'll be getting a new WiFi hub within the next week (as of typing this), so we shouldn't have any more hiccups like this at least for a while.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite its lack of action (and length), but I'll try to get back into the swing of things soon. I may not churn out a chapter a day as I had been doing before the internet issues, but I still envision this story to be coming to a close soon, if not by Christmas, then probably by New Year's Eve. We'll just have to see.**

 **RDFAN7669**

 **BTW, I'm certainly looking forward to Sonic's first cinematic movie! The release date is apparently 11th August 2019, if anyone is interested.**


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